BREAKING: Trudeau ends use of Emergencies Act
Media Reports
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that the government will end its use of the Emergencies Act.
'We were very clear that the use of the Emergencies Act would be limited in time. When we envoked it, it would be in place for up to thirty days, but we said that we would lift it as soon as possible," the prime minister said.
"We've held updates and briefs with ministers and officials every day... And today, after careful consideration, we're ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency," he said. "The federal government will be ending the use of the Emergencies Act."
Trudeau said that while the emergency was over, that the situation would not "just go away," adding that there was more work to do to "defend democracy."
"We're fighting a virus, not each other. After two difficult, painful years, we have a lot of healing to do," he said.
The Act was invoked on February 14, to much criticism. The premiers of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Saskatchewan all condemned the use of the act, while the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said that the government had "not met the threshold necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act."
Some also criticized Trudeau for invoking the act after protests in Ottawa in elsewhere had mostly been cleared.
"This law creates a high and clear standard for good reason: the Act allows government to bypass ordinary democratic processes. This standard has not been met," they wrote.
A vote on the act on Monday night resulted in the confirmation of Trudeau's declaration of the Emergencies Act, The vote was 185 in favor to 151 against, with Liberals and NDP voting in favour, while the Conservatives and Bloc voted against. The two Green Party votes were split. The Act still needed to pass in the Senate.
It was a test. Don't overthink it. Debate whether he'll get away with it next time.
No, YOU are "fighting a virus."
We are righteously fighting YOUR Fascism.