Trudeau defends Emergencies Act ahead of House of Commons vote

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending invoking the Emergencies Act and says Canada is still under a state of emergency ahead of a final vote on the measures in the House of Commons.

With the streets of downtown Ottawa clear of protesters for the first time in four weeks, the House will reconvene for the vote on Monday evening — if passed it will move up to the Senate.

“We didn’t want use the Emergencies Act,” said Trudeau in a news conference on Monday. “It is never something to turn to without serious consideration.”

“Invoking the Emergencies Act has been necessary, law enforcement agencies relied on it to set up secured areas in downtown Ottawa and at border crossings.”

Trudeau said invoking the act prevented foreign money from funding illegal blockades and has ensured that all international borders stay open. He also argued it gave law enforcement the tools they needed to successfully clear the demonstrations that have occupied the nation’s capital and international border crossings across the country.

The temporary measures are set to stay in effect for 30 days if passed in the House. Trudeau says even though blockades are lifted, the state of emergency is not over and there are concerns about more demonstrations in the days ahead.

He says his government has no intentions of keeping the act in place a day longer than they deem necessary.

The Emergencies Act was invoked on Feb. 14 for the first time since it became law in 1988 and gives police temporary additional powers when territorial tools are no longer sufficient. It also gives the government the power to ban public gatherings in specific areas, take control of public services it deems necessary to deal with the situation, and issue fines and jail time to those who breach public orders.

MPs will continue the ongoing debate of the act during Question Period on Monday before the vote in the evening.

Many Conservative MPs have argued the federal government have overstepped their bounds by invoking the temporary measures. In the last two house sittings, interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen has vocally express her disdain for the measures.

“This is historic and it is extremely disappointing,” Bergen said. “He has failed to meet the high threshold set out by the Emergencies Act to justify it. This act is already invoked and is the new law of the land.”

Conservatives will only be able to stop the act in the House if members of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois vote alongside them.

“Police could not have done the job they did, the way they did it, without the powers provided by the act,” says Halifax Liberal MP and cabinet minister Andy Fillmore.  “That comes from the senior commanding operator for the operation.”

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association agreed the government had not met the threshold to invoke the act and is seeking judicial review.

Trudeau also encouraged Canadians to engage in more civil discourse during his remarks on Monday. over political disagreements during his Monday remarks. He says it is time to start mending the rifts across the country after a month of protests.

“Now is the time to work together,” Trudeau said. “It’s also the time to reflect on the kind of future we want for our country.”

Police arrested 191 people in Ottawa over the weekend as they cleared the demonstration, 103 individuals are charged and 89 were released upon the condition they stay our of the red zone.

Officials in the city say residents can expect to see a large police presence for the foreseeable future.

Ottawa police are reassuring businesses that closed their doors during the three week occupation of the downtown core that they should now feel safe to reopen.

They posted a tweet last night advising people that some streets in the Parliament Hill area that were closed because of the demonstration have since been reopened to both pedestrians and vehicles.

The Emergencies Act became law in 1988, replacing the War Measures Act used by Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the October crisis.