Demonstrations in Ottawa | Trudeau will invoke the Emergencies Act

Désolé, votre navigateur ne supporte pas les videos

(Ottawa) Le gouvernement Trudeau s’apprête à invoquer la Loi sur les mesures d’urgence afin de mettre fin aux manifestations au centre-ville d’Ottawa et à plusieurs postes à la frontière canado-américaine, selon le réseau CBC.

Joël-Denis Bellavance
La Presse

Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau compte informer ses homologues des provinces lundi matin durant une conférence téléphonique de la décision de son gouvernement. L’option d’invoquer la Loi sur les mesures d’urgence avait été évoquée dimanche par le ministre de la Protection civile, Bill Blair dans une série d’entrevues télévisées.

M. Blair, un ancien chef de la Police de Toronto, avait déclaré dimanche que le gouvernement fédéral juge la « situation critique pour le pays », et qu’il est tout à fait disposé « à utiliser tous les outils à [sa] disposal, including emergency powers”.

The Emergency Measures Act was adopted in 1988 by the Canadian Parliament. It has never been used since, but its previous incarnation, the War Measures Act was, during the October crisis, by Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

According to CBC, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not intend to deploy the military at this time. The Press has not been able to independently confirm this information

On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also raised this possibility, but he also argued that this tool should be used as a “last, last, last resort”. Mr Trudeau gathered his ministers on Sunday evening after meeting with members of the “ongoing illegal blockades incident response group”.

Downtown Ottawa has been paralyzed for 17 days by protesters demanding an end to health measures. They have parked more than 400 heavy trucks on downtown streets and are refusing to leave, despite the state of emergency declared by the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario. Their presence poisons the lives of residents of the federal capital who deplore the inability of the police forces to restore order.

The Ambassador Bridge, which connects the city of Windsor to Detroit, was finally reopened to traffic on Sunday evening after a week of closure due to protesters blocking access from the Canadian side of the border. This bridge is the most important commercial link between Canada and the United States.

But other border crossings, including Coutts, Alberta, and Emerson, Manitoba, are still blocked.