In Canada, where lorry drivers opposing the requirement to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to work and their supporters have refused to end a blockade of streets in the capital Ottawa, the country’s Emergencies Act has been activated to end the blockade, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
«This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people’s jobs,» Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reasoned at a news conference on Monday, February 14, adding that the scope of the measures would be «time-limited», «reasonable and proportionate» and would not see the military deployed.
Read also: On Canadian-US border, strategic Ambassador Bridge freed from anti-vaxxer protesters
Trudeau noted that the police would be given more tools to detain or fine protesters and protect critical infrastructure. Also, with no need for court orders, banks can freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests.
It began as a rally against a new rule that all Canadian lorry drivers have to be vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border, or quarantine upon return, has turned into a broader challenge to all Covid-19 health restrictions still in place in Canada, BBC reports.
Canada plans to freeze bank accounts of protesters blocking central Ottawa
