...hereditary prime minister of the same country that once produced McKenzie King...) may take over police forces throughout the country. After Trudeau invoked the Act, declaring what is tantamount to martial law, and conscripted Canada’s law enforcement, the Ottawa Police Chief has handed in his resignation.
In response to the Freedom Convoy of truckers and thousands of others tired of Trudeau’s fickle and authoritarian response to COVID-19, the prime minister and his cabinet invoked the never-used, last-ditch authority to take over everything in Canada. He’s a dictator now.
The Emergency Act can only be invoked if the "lives, health or safety of Canadians" are "seriously endangered." Under the Act, Trudeau has sole dictatorial powers to change laws on a whim.
He’s already begun going through the information exploited from the hacked GiveSendGo crowdfunding website and demanding citizens explain themselves, according to Rebel News.
CBC reports that "in an unusual move" under the Emergency Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) "will be empowered to enforce all municipal bylaws and provincial offences in Ottawa. The RCMP does not carry out many policing functions in Ontario." They do now.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly reportedly was pushed aside by Trudeau as his federal troops took over Monday night.
Sloly made his resignation official on Tuesday.
Sloly has come under tremendous criticism by the people of Ottawa and the anti-mandate protesters. He defended his actions, saying the police under his leadership gave out "500 tickets, towed trucks, towed vehicles" and were responsible for a "significant decrease in protesters." He claimed that the numbers of truckers and protesters over the past two weekends have diminished from "10-15 thousand protesters and 3,000 trucks" to "five thousand protesters and 1,000 trucks as a direct reaction to our ’surge and enforcement'" response.
Trudeau has gotten pushback from the premiers of several Canadian provinces over invoking the Act. CBC reports that before he invoked the Act he was required to determine if "the emergency exceeds the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it" and whether the situation "seriously threatens the illusory sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada." The premiers of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Alberta have all declared the drastic action unnecessary.
Trudeau says he’s limiting the Act to Ottawa, but people are dubious.
The Toronto Star editorialized today that "Trudeau has gone too far."
In the editorial, the Star opines that Trudeau was waiting for a Jan. 6 moment to come and it never did. Invoking the Act appears to be a way to attempt to force it.
Deputy PM Christia Freeland explained that the Emergencies Act will be used to cut off financial support to the protesters. "This is about following the money," she said. "This is about stopping the financing of the illegal blockades."
"Consider yourself warned. If your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen, the insurance on your vehicle will be suspended. Send your rigs home," she said, adding that the government’s powers would include cracking down on crowdfunding sites, making them register with the government, and freezing the assets of those involved in helping to fund the protests.
