Today is day 23 of the now illegal occupation of Canada’s capital by truckers and their supporters. While many have moved out on their own volition, a hard-core group of perhaps a few hundred remain, occupying the ‘red zone’ near Parliament Hill.
It is only after the proclamation of a 1988 law called Emergencies Act by the Canadian government on Feb. 17 that an effective coordinated police action was finally deployed after 21 days of police inaction
.
The police forces involved are: the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Sureté du Quebec (SQ) and the Ottawa Police.
Canada’s Emergencies Act - Canada.ca
The newly appointed interim Police Chief of Ottawa, at a press conference at around 4pm Friday said, in response to a Canadian journalist question asking if these new powers (contained in the federal Emergencies Act) were really necessary to remove protesters today.
The response of Chief of Police Steve Bell was “…The Emergencies [measures] Act, the provincial Emergency Act, as well as the City of Ottawa Emergency and Injunction that have been provided have created the ability for us to use new and existing powers to be able to properly deal with the demonstration, to ultimately bring it to an end. Without the authorities that have been provided to us through these pieces of legislation, we wouldn’t be able to do the work we are doing today.”
That was the most important statement of the 10 minute press conference given that the New Democratic Party earlier stated support for the Trudeau minority government Emergencies Act vote is now wavering, as of Friday evening, and a vote on the floor of the House of Commons is now scheduled for Monday evening Feb. 21. If ever that House of Commons first hurdle were to be successfully cleared for PM Trudeau, then there would still be a debate and vote in the non-elected Canadian Senate, and the result of that future Senate vote is presently unclear.
While the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Annexed and part of the 1982 Canadian Constitution) are still protected under these new measures, and the emergency is limited to 30 days, and if extended, must be voted again by the full Parliament, most federal parties are very uneasy about the Emergencies Act, especially those who remember the arbitrary detentions during the October 1970 War Measures Act enacted by Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
As of noon today, approximately 147 protesters were arrested, including most of the convoy leaders and 59 trucks towed away. Among those protesters arrested were one Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and 6 other soldiers!
According to a former RCMP Deputy Commissioner, the steps in the present operation are: 1) remove all protesters, 2) remove all trucks blocking intersections 3) remove all other vehicles 4) remove people & trucks in other Ottawa locations outside the ‘red zone’ 5) remove all material in the ‘occupation village’, i.e. tents, inflatable games for kids, temporary kitchens, hot tubs, etc. The time frame, as of late Friday evening, is that such a plan will necessitate another 72 hours or so.
Here are the world wide presently known ‘Canadian-style’ (or other forms) truck convoys that have happened or are in the planning stages: USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, and Hungary
