The Canadian parliament voted to approve the decision of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to implement emergency powers to combat non-violent protests in Ottawa against the COVID restrictions of his government.
The lawmakers voted 185 to 151 to favour Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act, with the Liberal Party gaining a majority with the backing of New Democrats.
Recently, Trudeau invoked the 1988 Emergencies Act and claimed that authorities needed it to empower them to forcefully end the Freedom Convoy protests which had closed down parts of downtown Ottawa for three weeks, and prevented land crossings to the United States for six days.
Prior to the parliament vote, Trudeau told reporters he still needed the emergency powers and cited “real concerns” over threats in the coming days.
He said: “This state of emergency is not over. There continue to be real concerns about the coming days.”
Ottawa police completed the crackdown on protesters in Ottawa over the weekend, making 191 arrests and scattering crowds of demonstrators with pepper spray and stun grenades.
