Pressed hard for an Emergencies Act justification with the protests gone, border blockades down and convoy leaders in custody, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached deep into his leadership vacuum for rationalizations.
The emergency demanding the unprecedented use of the Act was . . . hesitant tow truck drivers, the prime minister declared.
Without a broad range of new federal powers, he argued in defending this mostly obsolete crisis intervention, truckers would not be towed without the Act and thus the occupation would still fill the streets around Parliament Hill.
There are other measures in the Act that helped, he noted, including financial monitoring to make crowdfunding of illegal activities more difficult. Two thumbs up to that, although provincial powers might’ve sufficed.
Only in Canada could this most-powerful of Acts be aimed at forcing reluctant tow truck drivers, who usually hover like price-gouging vultures over high-accident locations and snow-clearing routes, to drop the hook for a big-ticket rig removal.
This is clearly an Emergencies Act in search of an emergency after being introduced two weeks too late and approved on Monday night by a vote of 185 to 151, two days after the inspiration for the Act had left the city.
Of course, there are no winners in this stew of parliamentary toxicity, flailing leadership, police hesitancy, city council division and insurrection insanity.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who sided with the government to approve the Act, has decided the nuclear option is needed for a protest which, while nasty, noisy and unsettling, was far from violent.
I’m not sure how Singh will be able to oppose using the Emergencies Act to fight violent attacks on gas pipelines or to counter any future armed confrontations with First Nations.
The Conservatives, too many of whom have canoodled with the convoy, will have to accept a harsh judgment from middle-spectrum Canadians as they look for a new leader.
They failed to read a national room going very negative against these protests and, as a result, they’ve gone from legitimate government-in-waiting to fighting against People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier at the bottom of the nut barrel.
And, of course, there’s Trudeau, the convoy instigator who washed his hands of all responsibility for a problem he created that no longer exists but needs a law-enforcement sledgehammer now that the clean-up crews have arrived.
There are many reasons why Trudeau should be worried about having his severely polarized reputation wrapped in tar and feathers.
He imposed a vaccine restriction on truckers without a medical reason to justify it. He dismissed the many who are fed up with restrictions and vaccine mandates as a “fringe.” He acted to clear a key border crossing only when scolded by the U.S. president. He went invisible and silent as the protests escalated and he failed to cajole premiers into a coherent unified Canada-wide response.
For all these flaws and faults framed by his moistly delivered repetitive geyser of rhetorical babble, his reputation has taken a hard hit.
In the end, somehow, police will emerge as the best among the losers, finally doing their jobs without inciting widely predicted violence.
After missing the rig-rolling-in threat and engaging in painfully slow and too-friendly enforcement, they got the cop numbers they needed and steadily pushed back.
While I’ll bow to the view of police chiefs who say the Emergencies Act was at play during the breakups, it sure looked like basic police on parade using their everyday powers to corral and disperse a mostly-peaceful crowd.
So now what? Well, with vaccine mandates and restrictions easing, it would be the right time for reconciliation to begin with all sides pledging to bridge the divide on pandemic restrictions.
But, even as he was calling for national healing to begin, the prime minister, who last week blasted a Jewish MP for standing with swastika wavers, was setting a trap for the Conservatives.
By taking this unnecessary Emergencies Act to a vote of confidence, Trudeau is setting up the Official Opposition to look like the parliamentary weaklings against an insurrection-driven occupancies and business blockades.
While true to an extent, it’s doubtful Trudeau will be around to use it against whomever leads the Conservatives into the next election.
As the convoys retreated, they left behind smouldering wrecks in Canada’s political leadership. Removing them may be the most legitimate emergency use of tow trucks.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
