The Freedom Convoy has shaken Canadian politics to its core.
On Monday 14 February, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau sent an unlikely Valentine’s gift to his citizens, invoking rarely used emergency powers, which came into effect the next day. This was in response to the ‘Freedom Convoy’ of thousands of truckers and protesters who have gathered in the nation’s capital, Ottawa. Trudeau claimed that the protests were not peaceful, implying that the crisis could not be solved by normal policing under existing statutes. The reality is that, during more than two weeks of protests, Ottawa’s protesters are guilty of little more than municipal traffic and noise infractions. There has been no violence. Nevertheless, two of the protest leaders, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, have been detained by police under the emergency powers.
