Richmond hill, City in Ontario, Canada

Ottawa, Feb 15 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared a public order emergency for the first time in the country's history to support provinces in ending the ongoing blockades caused by the ongoing anti-Covid truckers protests.Addressing the media here on Monday, Trudeau said that he invoked the Emergencies Act to give the federal government extra and "temporary" powers to handle the issue, adding the move targets to those areas in need, not the whole country, reports Xinhua news agency.The Emergencies Act, which replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, provides special powers to respond to emergency scenarios affecting public welfare (natural disasters, disease outbreaks), public order (civil unrest), and international emergencies or war emergencies."It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law. This is about keeping Canad safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions," he said.The Act will ensure that essential services, such as towing services to remove trucks, are rendered, the Prime Minister noted.It will also be used to protect critical infrastructure such as borders and airports from the blockades and the government will enable the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to enforce municipal bylaws, and he dismissed the involvement of military force.As the truck convoy protest organisers have secured millions of dollars from crowdfunding sites, the measures also include giving banks the power to suspend or freeze accounts of blockade supporters without a court order, and force the platforms and cryptocurrencies to follow anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws.Also speaking at the same press conference, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that companies with trucks involved in the illegal blockades will have their corporate bank accounts frozen, and their insurance suspended.She said that under the act, crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers must report large and suspicious transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the national financial intelligence agency.In late January, thousands of Canadian truckers and their supporters descended on Ottawa to oppose the government's Covid-19 vaccine requirement for truckers crossing the border into the US, which has the same policy.On February 11, Ontario province, where Ottawa is located, declared a state of emergency to quell the convoy protests.Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Richmond HillFOLLOW

Richmond hill, Latest News

Canada's House of Commons on Monday night voted to pass the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act in response to the convoy blockades in Ottawa and at border crossings. ...

Canada looks to end COVID-19 protests with tougher financial measures after another weekend of arrests. ...

The Canadian government is preparing to ban the 'swastika', a symbol of Hinduism. The government has not yet made ... ...

Ottawa, Feb 18 Two-thirds, or 66 per cent, of Canad support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for invoking the ... ...

The Canadian military police have started investigating two more soldiers allegedly involved in supporting trucker protests against COVID-19 restrictions, the National Post reported on Thursday, citing Canadian Defense spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. ...

Ottawa, Feb 17 Canada's inflation rate surpassed 5 per cent for the first time since September 1991, rising ... ...

Ottawa, Feb 16 Canada is easing the on-arrival test requirements for fully-vaccinated travellers starting February 28 as the ... ...

Ottawa, Feb 15 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared a public order emergency for the first time ... ...