Canada: Justin Trudeau defends his use of a special law to dislodge truckers in February 2022

Canadian police, during the evacuation of the Ambassador Bridge, linking Canada to the United States, after five days of blockage, February 13, 2022. AP - Nathan Denette

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

A Commission of Inquiry has been returning to Canada for a few weeks into the use of legislation to end the blocking of downtown Ottawa and several border crossings by angry truckers in February 2022. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to defend this decision after the judge heard about sixty witnesses and read thousands of documents.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Quebec,

“

For Justin Trudeau, the case is heard.

The occupation of downtown Ottawa, but especially the

at several key points with the United States represented a very significant potential risk of violence for Canada.

That is why he and his ministers resorted to the Emergencies Act.

The security of the country really threatened?

Used for the first time, this legislation made it possible in particular to block the bank accounts of the organizers of the demonstrations, and legitimized the work of the police.

On several occasions, the leader had to answer questions about the

posed by this movement.

“

»

Justin Trudeau explained that trucks could have turned into potential weapons and that there was talk of a weapons cache at the site of one of the border blockades.

However, the Canadian Intelligence and Security Service considered at the time that the security of the country was not really threatened.

The judge presiding over the Commission of Inquiry will have to decide, within a few months, whether or not the government had the legitimacy to resort to such a law.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Canada

• Justin Trudeau

• Social issues