Trucker protests in Canada: Trudeau takes a historic step - and uses emergency law for the first time

Created: 2022-02-15Updated: 2022-02-15, 3:44 p.m

Canada takes tougher stance over trucker protests.

Blockades can be ended by emergency law.

A historic step.

Ottawa – In view of the trucker protests against his Corona policy, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared a national emergency.

Trudeau announced on Monday (local time) in Ottawa that he would make use of a corresponding law for the first time.

Trudeau promised the measures would be time-limited, locally targeted, and proportionate.

Emergency Laws - Historic move in Canada

Passed in 1988 but never implemented, the law briefly gives the Liberal Prime Minister the power to override civil liberties to restore public order.

Trudeau assured, "We will continue to make sure that the appropriate authorities at the city, provincial and state levels have what they need to end these blockades and protect the safety of the population." Previously, he had illegally blocked the truck drivers mentioned and a violent dissolution cannot be ruled out.

Corona protests in Canada: truckers block the capital Ottawa

Thousands have been demonstrating in Canada against corona restrictions and vaccination regulations for weeks.

Trucks and other vehicles are also blocking access roads to the center of the capital Ottawa.

The protests were triggered by vaccination requirements for truck drivers.

A regulation has been in effect since January, according to which truckers returning from the USA must also present proof of vaccination.

Unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers must therefore go into a 14-day quarantine when returning from the USA.

Canada: Ambassador Bridge cleared on Sunday

At the weekend, emergency services had already cleared a center of the protests: After a blockade for almost a week, traffic on an important border bridge between the city of Windsor in Canada and Detroit in the USA was flowing again.

The governments on both sides of the border had previously warned of the economic consequences of the blockade.

Windsor Police said more than two dozen people were arrested over the weekend and a dozen vehicles impounded or towed away.

According to Trudeau, the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge and other border crossings led to the halt of car production by six manufacturers due to missing parts.

25 percent of Canadian-American freight traffic flows across the bridge - this corresponds to a goods value of the equivalent of 275 million euros per day.

The region is closely interwoven economically across the border.

Protests in Canada against corona restrictions

Elsewhere, protests against the corona restrictions continued.

At least one other border crossing between Coutts in the Canadian province of Alberta and Sweet Grass in the US state of Montana remained closed on Monday, according to authorities.

In Ottawa, too, truckers held out despite the freezing cold.

There were also numerous arrests there over the weekend.

Some of the demonstrators showed "aggressive behavior" and "overwhelmed" the police, police said.

Trudeau said: "We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue." It is about ensuring safety, protecting jobs and restoring trust in the country's institutions.

The government is not using the emergency law to involve the military or prevent people from exercising their right to legally protest.

Large parts of the population had supported Trudeau's sometimes very strict anti-Covid course over the past two years.

However, the latest studies indicate a possible trend reversal, even if the picture is not yet clear.

Some supporters of the 50-year-old also perceived measures due to the rampant omicron variant, such as new travel restrictions and closures of the interiors of bars and restaurants ordered by local governments, as exaggerated.