Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will keep the Emergencies Act in place as threats remain to the nation’s capital of Ottawa and at U.S.-Canada border crossings.
Speaking at a press conference, Trudeau said it’s still too early to lift measures banning public assembly in downtown Ottawa and at border crossings, because of concern demonstrators opposing vaccine mandates are prepared to return and continue their protests.
“We don’t want to keep it in place a single day longer than is necessary,” Trudeau told reporters. “Even though the blockades are lifted across border openings right now, even though things seem to be resolving very well in Ottawa, this state of emergency is not over.”
Trudeau said he expects to keep the state of emergency in place only for “a number more days.”
The emergency legislation received approval from lawmakers late yesterday (February 21) with the backing of Trudeau’s governing Liberal Party and the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP). The governing Liberals hold a minority in the House of Commons and require the support of at least one party to pass legislation.
The Canadian government invoked emergency powers last week to put an end to anti-vaccine mandate protests by truckers who blocked much of downtown Ottawa around the Parliament buildings for weeks, with blockades also spreading to a number of border crossings with the U.S.
Police began clearing the protest encampment in Ottawa last week and had fully cleared the city of protesters by Sunday evening (February 20). The capital remains ringed by checkpoints, and the street directly in front of parliament remains closed.
