Trudeau repeals emergency powers after ending truck protests

Bloomberg

Canada is lifting the emergency powers it enacted more than a week ago to get street protests under control, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the unprecedented authority is no longer needed.
His government invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act after hundreds of semis and other heavy vehicles blockaded the downtown of Canada’s capital city for three weeks.
The demonstration in Ottawa sparked offshoots that shut down key US border crossings, including the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit.
“Today, after careful consideration, we’re ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency,” Trudeau said alongside his attorney general and other top ministers in Ottawa on Wednesday. “We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe.”
The legislation gave authorities financial tools to cut off funding to the protesters and compel towing firms to clear out the vehicles, among other measures. Canadian banks froze about C$7.8 million ($6.1 million) in just over 200 accounts under the emergency powers, government officials told lawmakers.
Trudeau said the emergency powers will be formally repealed “in the coming hours,” once the governor general signs off on it. A spokesperson for the Ontario government said the provincial state of emergency will also be lifted shortly.
Over the weekend, a large deployment of police sourced from around the country cleared Ottawa’s downtown streets of vehicles and protesters, although some demonstrators relocated to encampments outside the city.
Trudeau said “the threat continues” of more illegal blockades, but that briefings he’s received from public safety officials gave him “a high level of confidence that the existing tools that police forces have across the country will be sufficient to deal with further disruptions.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said banks have already started the process of unfreezing accounts now that the blockades are over, but added some bank accounts could stay frozen under other court orders not related to the emergency powers.