Canada: CCLA files lawsuit against Trudeau government over use of Emergency Act

After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared an emergency in the country, the officials of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) announced on Thursday that CCLA has filed a lawsuit against Trudeau's government for using the Emergencies Act in the aftermath of a protest against the vaccine mandates. As per the reports of Sputnik, a CCLA spokesperson said during a press conference that the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has spoken out strongly against this pronouncement, and now they have their own announcement that they are taking the government of Canada to court.

CCLA has slammed the Trudeau government for declaring an emergency, which should only be done in the event of a serious threat to the Government of Canada's ability to preserve Canada's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. They also argued that the government should only have invoked the Emergency Act when the problem cannot be successfully dealt with under any other Canadian legislation.

Emergencies Act allows police more options to restore order

Trudeau said at a press conference on Parliament Hill that it is clearly evident that law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law is being seriously challenged and that the restrictions will be fair and proportionate to the concerns. The President also stated that the unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act allows police more options to restore order in regions where public gatherings are prohibited and harmful activities.

For the first time in 50 years, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used the Emergencies Act to grant the federal government additional authority to deal with continuous protests against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The state of emergency will last 30 days. Emergencies Act suggests that a national emergency is defined as a temporary urgent and critical situation that seriously endangers the lives, health, or safety of Canadians and is of such magnitude or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it.

Action will be taken against protesters

Thousands of truckers and hundreds of other activists converged on Ottawa in January to express their strong opposition to vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the US-Canada border. Protesters requested that COVID-19 restrictions be lifted. The protest has since morphed into an anti-government rally. In the meanwhile, Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell has stated that action will be taken against those involved in the "Freedom Convoy" protest, according to ANI.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP