February 14th, 2022 Valentine's Day will now be remembered as the day Justin Trudeau and his fringe minority government authorized the Emergencies Act.
The Emergencies Act, a sweeping piece of legislation passed in 1988 as a replacement for the controversial War Measures Act, and up until yesterday it has never been used.
The Act gives powers to the Prime Minister to respond to four different types of emergency scenarios: public welfare (natural disasters, disease), public order (civil unrest), international emergencies and war emergencies.
The act grants cabinet the ability to "take special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times" to cope with an emergency and the resulting fallout during an "urgent and critical situation."
It gives cabinet unprecedented powers to assume jurisdiction from the provinces.
The Act gives him the power to remove disobedient protestors from the Capital and across the country, with force, along with granting him unlimited authority to suspend human rights and the Charter, for the amount of time deemed necessary to restore order.
He has essentially authorized the potential use of the Canadian Military for crimes that thus far amount to noise and parking infractions. The few charges that have been issued by the police in Ottawa amount to minor infractions, none for violent behaviour thus far.
In fact the number of criminal charges laid in Ottawa has gone down during the 3 week protest as the convoy participants strive to keep the protest peaceful.
This declaration is yet another example of government over reach against the Canadian public, the very issue the convoy and supporters are protesting against.
Despite Trudeau's claim yesterday the the powers will be directed soley on removing blockades at the border and those protestors in the nations capital which he claims are an occupying force determined to overthrow the government, the reality is the other blockades at border crossings across the country were dismanteled before these measures were announced.Section 8 of the
Emergencies Act authorizes:
- the regulation or prohibition of travel to, from or within any specified area, where necessary for the protection of the health or safety of individuals;
- the evacuation of persons and the removal of personal property from any specified area and the making of arrangements for the adequate care and protection of the persons and property;
- the requisition, use or disposition of property;
- the authorization of or direction to any person, or any person of a class of persons, to render essential services of a type that that person, or a person of that class, is competent to provide and the provision of reasonable compensation in respect of services so rendered;
- the regulation of the distribution and availability of essential goods, services and resources;
- the authorization and making of emergency payments;
- the assessment of damage to any works or undertakings and the repair, replacement or restoration thereof;
- the assessment of damage to the environment and the elimination or alleviation of the damage; and the imposition on summary conviction, of a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both that fine and imprisonment, or on indictment, of a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both that fine and imprisonment, for contravention of any order or regulation made under this section.
This empowers the government to fine, imprison, evict and seize property of anyone that takes any action they deem to be against the will of the government itself. It temporarily removes and rights and privileges Canadians have under the Charter. This is in no way the intented use of the Emergencies Act.
In addition to these new powers, the Deputy Prime Minister, and World Economic Forum Executive Board Member, Chrystia Freeland announced the government was authorizing financial institutions to seize assets of anyone they deem to be supporting the protestors, and that they may do so without a court order.
They have also banned the use of crowd funding platforms and digital currencies including crypto currencies without reporting the purpose of the transactions to the government for approval.
...crowdfunding platforms and some of the payment service providers they use are not fully captured under the proceeds of crime and terrorist financing act,” she said, adding that the changes announced Monday “cover all forms of transactions, including digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies.”
If there was ever any doubt about how these elected officials view their constituents, it is now crystal clear.
You will have no rights, you will own nothing and you will obey.
