By Canadian Press

Time-Limited Powers

Federal government invokes Emergencies Act

Feb 14, 2022 | 4:27 PM

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has invoked the Emergencies Act to bring to an end antigovernment blockades he describes as illegal and not about peaceful protest.

Trudeau says the act will be used to protect critical infrastructure such as borders and airports from the blockades, and is creating time-limited powers that do not already exist.

That includes giving banks the power to suspend or freeze accounts of blockade supporters without a court order, and force crowdfunding platforms and cryptocurrencies to follow anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also says companies with trucks involved in the illegal blockades will have their corporate bank accounts frozen, and their insurance suspended.

The government will also enable the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws.

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This is the first time the Emergencies Act has been invoked since it came into force in 1988.

“We’re not suspending fundamental rights or overriding Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are not limiting people’s freedoms of speech or peaceful assembly,” says Trudeau.

He says invoking the Emergencies Act is “never the first thing a government should do.”

The act will allow officers to enforce laws and bylaws in municipalities and cities where the protests are happening.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney Tweeted earlier Monday that Alberta’s Government is against the initiation of the act.

“This morning I told Prime Minister Trudeau that Alberta’s Government is opposed to the invocation of the federal Emergencies Act,” he Tweeted

Kenney isn’t alone with his stance, the premier of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were both against the implementation of the act.

Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, says the Coutts Border blockade has cost 48 million dollars per day to the economy.

Related story: Coutts blockade costing Southern Alberta $3M/day: Economic Development Lethbridge

In the news conference Monday, David Lemetti, Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada, wanted to reiterate that these measures are “temporary.”

Additional information can be found at Emergencies Act Canada.

(With files from LNN)