‘Trudeau backs down’: Canadian PM revokes emergency powers<\/a><\/p>\nPrime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that Canada will end the rarely used measures used nine days ago to deal with weeks-long protests that shut some border crossings and paralyzed Ottawa since late January.<\/p>\n
“The situation is no longer an emergency. Therefore, the federal government will be ending the use of the Emergencies Act,” he told a news conference.<\/p>\n
“We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe,” he said.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s governor-general will formally revoke the emergency measures in the coming hours.<\/p>\n
Following Trudeau’s announcement last week, the Emergencies Act was approved by the House of Commons on Monday, but not without opposition.<\/p>\n
Invoking the powers was seen by the main opposition Conservative Party and some provincial leaders as overreaching.<\/p>\n
The government said that the use of these powers would have a time limit. According to Trudeau, the powers were needed because the blockades threatened the economy and the public and because they helped coordinate the police forces.<\/p>\n
“Trudeau backs down,” Pierre Poilievre, a Conservative lawmaker who is running for leadership of the party, said on Twitter. “Thank you to all who fought this abuse of power.”<\/p>\n
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