Trudeau accused of abuse of his power in tackling truck rallies

JUSTIN TRUDEAU defended his decision to extend controversial emergency powers to end Canada’s trucker protests after the prime minister was accused of setting “a worrying precedent”.

Mr Trudeau invoked the neverbefore-used Emergencies Act last week to crack down on convoys of trucks that paralysed the city of Ottawa and cut off key trading routes to the US for weeks.

Police exercised the powers over the weekend to bring the remaining occupation of the capital to an end.

However, Mr Trudeau said the emergency powers were still required this week, citing “real concerns” about further disruption. The measure to keep the powers in place for another 30 days was approved in parliament by 185 to 151 on Monday but it was heavily criticised as an overreach by critics.

MPS from the leading opposition Conservative Party accused Mr Trudeau of abusing his powers. Tory

MP Dean Allison described the actions as “authoritarian military style measures” against the protesters.

Mike Morrice, from the Green Party, said: “The use of the Act sets a worrying precedent for future protests”.

Canada’s Civil Liberties Union is

suing the Liberal Party’s minority government accusing it of a serious infringement on Canadians’ rights.

The Act allows the government temporary powers such as prohibiting public assembly in specific areas.

Mr Trudeau has argued that lingering threats of unrest require the measures to remain in force for now. “This state of emergency is not over,” Mr Trudeau said. “There continue to be real concerns about the coming days.”

The trucker-led protests began last month as a demonstration against a vaccine requirement for drivers crossing the US border. But it has since become a sprawling umbrella movement for grievances against all Covid restrictions and Mr Trudeau’s leadership.

Convoys of trucks have gridlocked Ottawa and other Canadian cities for weeks. Following the invocation of the powers, Ottawa police arrested 196 protesters and towed 115 vehicles.

Mr Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act passed a vote in the House of Commons on Monday with the help of the Left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP).

But the NDP’S leader Jagmeet Singh stressed that the party had only offered their “reluctant support”.

“It’s not a blank cheque. We are prepared to pull our support as soon as … the Act is no longer needed,” he said.