People and vehicles fill Wellington Street near Parliament Hill at the beginning of the so-called freedom convoy occupation of Ottawa in late January, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Long-term assessments of the trucker convoy will depend less on questionable interpretations of individual freedom and more on whether the state’s fundamental obligations were seriously threatened.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks across an empty Wellington St. to a news conference on Feb. 22.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Emergencies Act could have been in place for 30 days or more. But 10 days after it was invoked, the government is now confident it can keep Canadians safe with existing laws.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, surrounded by key members of his cabinet, announces his government will invoke the Emergencies Act.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history. His father had invoked its predecessor, the War Measures Act, more than half a century earlier.
Close to 3,000 Quebecers gathered at the Paul-Sauvé arena hours before the invocation of the War Measures Act would send Canadian troops onto the streets of the province and many people – some of them at the arena rally – were arrested in subsequent raids.
Éditions du Septentrion, CC BY-NC-ND
A new book argues that the War Measures Act was a response to the threat young people posed to authorities.
A newsboy holds up a newspaper with a banner headline reporting the invoking of the War Measures Act on Oct. 16, 1970, following the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross and Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte by the FLQ.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Bregg
After the FLQ manifesto was broadcast in October 1970, Québecers felt uplifted. It expressed many of their concerns. That changed after Pierre Laporte was found dead in the trunk of a car.
When then prime minister Pierre Trudeau brought in the War Measures Act in 1970, it was the first time the controversial law had been invoked during peace time.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ottawa used the old War Measures Act when it wanted sweeping powers to deal with extraordinary events. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has mused about using the newer Emergencies Act during the pandemic.