By Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO - Local police did not demonstrate the ability to keep so-called "Freedom Convoy" protests in early 2022 "under control," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, as he appeared before a commission looking into his government's use of a rare emergency powers to quash anti-government protests.
Those protests shut down the country's capital and some border crossings for two and a half weeks between January and February, by people opposing government's public health measures such as vaccine mandates used to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The protests ended on Feb. 14 after of Canada's federal government invoked the Emergencies Act. Civil liberties advocates have argued Canada was not justified in using the Emergencies Act - they say police could have cleared the blockades using existing powers.
Trudeau told the hearing that there was "a bit of a disconnect" between what he and his team were seeing on social media about the sentiment underlying the convoy and what they were hearing from police who said they could handle the protest in the city’s capital.
But "the ability to keep it under control was not exactly there," Trudeau said.
The act gives the government temporary powers it does not normally have, such as the ability to impose special restrictions on public assembly and travel and to mobilize federal support for local and provincial police.
It allowed financial institutions to temporarily freeze the bank accounts of people believed to be supporting the convoy and allowed the government to order towing services to clear blockades.
For weeks the Public Order Emergency Commission has been hearing from police and government witnesses into justifications for the act's use and what led up to it.
The so-called "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement protesting public health measures such as vaccine mandates used to fight the coronavirus pandemic. But its participants' grievances were broader than that, and some were calling for Canada's government to be ousted.