Canada’s Use of Emergency Powers ‘Appropriate’ to Counter Freedom Convoy, Inquiry Rules

Series of local policing mistakes to address trucker-led protest in Ottawa led to a national emergency, report finds

FROM EARLIER: A key U.S.-Canada trade corridor reopened in February 2022 for travelers and freight, marking an end to protests over Covid-19 restrictions that lasted roughly a week and caused economic repercussions. Photo: Nicole Osborne/Associated Press

OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was justified in invoking emergency powers last year to end the weekslong Freedom Convoy protest that paralyzed the capital and thwarted trade on key U.S.-Canada corridors, a judicial inquiry said Friday.

The inquiry said Canada’s cabinet had information about a “threat of serious violence for a political or ideological purpose.” Furthermore, the inquiry said a series of policing mistakes by local authorities “contributed to a situation that spun out of control. Lawful protests descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency.”

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