Canada must work on ‘healing’ from pandemic, convoy unrest, says Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not state clearly whether the vote on the Emergencies Act set for Monday night will be a confidence vote.

The blaring horns and snarled streets of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” blockade in Ottawa are no more, but on Monday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the work to heal the pandemic divisions in the country that the convoy exposed must now begin.

However, he did not answer clearly about whether a Monday night vote on the unprecedented invocation of the Emergencies Act will be a confidence vote.

“There’s no doubt that the last weeks have been difficult, that the last years have been painful, and that there are still challenges ahead of us. But we can’t let anger divide us,” said Trudeau in a press conference.

“More than ever, now is the time to work together. It’s also the time to reflect on the kind of future we want for our country. There’s a lesson for all of us in what happened this month. We don’t know when this pandemic is going to end, but that doesn’t mean we cannot start healing as a nation.”

The convoy blockade encamped in Ottawa on Jan. 28. While numbers fluctuated over the next three weeks, many protesters refused to move until a large-scale police operation began on Feb. 18.

Comprised of tactical teams from multiple jurisdictions, the operation involved police moving progressively and methodically in gaining back control of the nation’s capital, street by street, arresting nearly 200 convoy participants in the process. Nearly 400 charges have now been laid.

For weeks though, police as well as local and provincial leaders faced heated criticism for a lack of action in preventing the convoy from encamping, as well as the subsequent lack of enforcement amid what has widely been described as the “lawless” conduct of the convoy.

Police received hundreds of complaints alleging hate-related incidents. They opened more than 100 criminal investigations into alleged harassment, intimidation and assaults on Ottawa residents by the convoy.