Crackdown Sparks Even More Massive Protests Across Canada, Crisis for Trudeau
The protesters in Ottawa are hoping to make it through the weekend until the Senate convenes. They want to make it to Monday because the Emergencies Act has to be approved by the Parliament within seven days of it being called for, which was on February 14. So it has to be approved by tomorrow. They are hoping that the legislators will not approve it, the police will back off, and the Parliament will address their concerns.
There were still hundreds of protesters out Saturday in Ottawa, more even than there were earlier when there was a lot of police action against them. And some of them may even be the people who were “arrested” earlier.
100 people were arrested on Friday and 70 on Saturday, according to the police, so they could finally claim to officials that they were taking action. And, of course, they were very aggressive, beating up some people and reporters in the process and even running over an older woman on a disability scooter with their horses. You can see this in a closer video of one protester they were hitting with a rifle butt.
But there was something a little funny about those “arrests.” Many of the people arrested claimed that they were driven several blocks or a couple of miles away and then just released. They were not issued citations or formally charged with anything.
So these aren’t “arrests” where anyone is being charged — just moving people away from the area. Thus, it appears to be an effort to look like they are “doing something” or “restoring order.” Most of the people said that they were released a distance away. Some were asked to say they wouldn’t return to the protest. They didn’t comply and returned anyway. Nobody was charged with anything, there was no processing, not even a desk appearance ticket.
But as we said, not only are there more people out in Ottawa, they are growing in other cities in Canada including Quebec, Calgary, and Surrey.
Huge numbers out, particularly in Calgary.
Quebec had a Freedom Convoy move into the center of the city and was having a party.
Now, some legislators have said they will not be voting for the Emergencies Act on Monday, including the Conservatives and some from Quebec.
The question is if they have enough to shut it down. Civil liberties organizations are also encouraging the Act be voted down.
The premier from Alberta, Jason Kenney, has said that he will challenge it in court because it was unnecessary, disproportionate, violates natural justice, intrudes into provincial jurisdiction, and creates a dangerous precedent.
The blockades which Trudeau claimed as an excuse, ended peacefully without the use of the Act. Meanwhile, the government has moved on to seizing all kinds of power including conscription of tow truck drivers and seizing bank accounts of people for the “crime” of political opinion. As we noted earlier, the police chief even said they would continue to hunt the protesters — and their finances- down, even after the protests. Trudeau made it clear that part of this — from the very beginning — was because they had “unacceptable views” and that he was cool with kneeling with BLM protesters — just not these guys about whom he has lied so much.
We shall have to see what the morrow may bring when it comes to the vote. It should by rights go down. But the effort to go after protesters by the government — rather than talk and listen — has sparked something not only in Canada but in the U.S. and around the world against tyranny. And that isn’t going down any time soon, no matter what happens with the vote.
Post a Comment