BREITBART news reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time to squash the ongoing Freedom Convoy protests against Wuhan coronavirus restrictions, potentially giving the Canadian leader sweeping emergency powers, and asks: 

"Is Canada now a dictatorship?"

Trudeau annoucned the use of the Emergencies Act for the first time in its history on Monday afternoon, stating that the federal government has invoked the act to aid law enforcement to stop border blockades as well as the Freedom Convoy demonstration in downtown Ottawa.

He went on to claim the act would be used in a time-limited and geographically narrow way and would not be used to bring in the military or suspend the rights of Canadians in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Emergencies Act replaced the prior War Measures Act that was used by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the current prime minister’s father, during the October crisis of 1970 when members of the far-left terrorist Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped and murdered Quebec Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte.

The Emergencies Act, which came into law in 1988, allows Trudeau to invoke various measures that could include banning people from gathering in certain areas as well as restricting their travel across the country.

Reuters writes this morning that the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the government had not met the standard for invoking the Emergencies Act, which is intended to deal with threats to "sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," the group said.

The "Freedom Convoy" protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have drawn people opposed to Trudeau's policies on everything from pandemic restrictions to a carbon tax. Copycat trucker protests have also sprung up in Israel, France, Australia and New Zealand.

This is not something that all previous Trudeau supporters agree with. Several Provincial Premiers have come out against the implementation of the Emergencies Act, including Saskatchawan conservative premier Scott Moe, who publicly stated he was opposed to the measure.

Image: Reuters