In a rare moment in Canadian history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified before the Emergencies Act for an independent public investigation. The reason for the investigation was whether the state of emergency powers exercised against the protests of the truckers who locked Ottawa in January and February of this year were legitimate.
Trudeau stood firm in the face of the investigation. Claiming that the use of extraordinary powers is “unavoidable”, the Canadian leader said it is not possible to negotiate with protesters. “They didn’t want their voices heard, they wanted obedience,” Trudeau said, noting the threat of violence and the inadequacy of the police.
The Canadian prime minister added that he was “absolutely serene and confident” in his choice to exercise exceptional powers. The State of Emergency Law, which took its current form in the 1980s, had never been used in this form before.
One of the convoy lawyers told Trudeau, “When did you and your government become so afraid of your own citizens?” The Canadian replied: “I am not and we are not.”
What was done to the truckers?
Truckers organized under the name of “Freedom Convoy” had locked up the capital Ottawa to protest the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and public restrictions.
The matter was that the vaccine exemption for truckers crossing the US border should end on both sides of the border and the requirement for vaccination to cross the border was introduced. Truckers were saying that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate should be dropped.
The protests, which began on 29th January, entered a new phase after the meeting between Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau on February 11th. Three days later, the Canadian government began implementing the Emergency Act.
The law gave the government the right to block meetings and send federal forces to help local police. Furthermore, the bank accounts of people “believed to be supporting the convoy” could be temporarily suspended. The government also exercised this authority.
The pressure from the US and banks has worked
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, a member of the cabinet who testified before the commission, argued that Canada has faced a “dangerous moment” during the protests. What Freeland meant was that the blockade of truckers closed the vital trade corridor with the United States.
Trudeau went further and told US President Joe Biden during the protests that he was trying to reassure him that Canada would “continue to be a reliable partner”.
Chrystia Freeland described the phone call Biden had with one of her economic advisers, Brian Deese, on February 10th, as a “defining” moment. Deese said that if the blockade does not end within 12 hours, all automotive factories in the northeast of the United States will be shut down.
On February 13th, the day before the implementation of Emergency Act, the meeting with Canada’s senior bank CEOs also confirmed US’ concerns.
The CEOs felt that the protests were putting Canada’s reputation at risk. A CEO said he spent a week in the US and that the protests made Canada seem like a “joke” to his neighbour. CEOs complained of the inadequacy of the laws in force and made recommendations to cut off financial support for the protest organizers.
In fact, an unnamed CEO wanted the government to act quickly by declaring protesters “terrorists”. Freeland also made an interesting suggestion, calling it “deplorable” when a foreign investor, whom one of the CEOs tried to convince, called Canada a “banana republic.” “Remind him of Brexit if the foreign investor is British, remind him of the Yellow Vests if he is French, remind him of how badly they are currently managing Russia if he is German.”
‘How many tanks are you asking for?’
As part of the commission’s investigation, obtaining messages among the ministers also revealed shocking remarks.
The phone messages between Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino and Justice Minister David Lametti are an example to this. “You need to get the police to act,” Lametti wrote to Mendicino on 2nd February 2022. And CAF if necessary, ”he said. Mendicino’s answer is nothing more than a “joke”: “How many tanks are you asking for?”
The pair then complained of the inadequacy and inability of the Ottawa police chief to maintain order. The messages suggest that the Justice Minister is considering implementing the Emergency Act only on 30th January 2022. “I was just being cautious,” Lametti says.
Intelligence chief’s advice to Trudeau
Another fact that emerged during the investigation is that David Vigneault, chief of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), was the one to have recommended the use of the Emergency Act to the Canadian government.
Testifying to the commission, Vigneault said the truckers’ protests did not pose a national security threat to the CSIS Act, but the Emergency Act was still necessary.
Shaping media narrative
On the other hand, it was revealed how the Canadian government wanted to determine the media narrative against truckers. Trudeau adviser Mary-Liz Power sends a message to Alexander Cohen, communications director at the Department of Public Safety, outlining a media strategy that the truckers’ protest will resemble those of 6th January 2021 in the United States.
In another text message with Cohen, Power says that global and other media outlets are working on some news. Indeed, Global News, one of Canada’s largest media outlets, cited the headline on 25th January 2022: “Extreme right-wing groups hope that trucker protests will be Canada’s ‘January 6th’.”
