Monday marked the first time in Canadian history that the Emergencies Act was invoked.  

The federal government said that they would use the act to force towing companies to remove vehicles that are blocking highways and other critical infrastructure, establish zones where public assembly is not allowed, and have banks suspend accounts that are suspected of supporting the blockades. 

While this may feel sudden to many Canadians, Souris-Moose Mountain MP Robert Kitchen said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been talking about invoking this act for quite some time.  

“We've been hearing the Prime Minister talk about this from day one,” Kitchen said. “Actually, at the very start of the pandemic he had talked about using Emergencies Act. Obviously, it seemed to heat up over the weekend and I guess the question is what caused that to happen, and when you ask him that he won't give you an answer.” 

Kitchen doesn’t think that the act is needed.  

“The Ambassador Bridge has been opened up, and in Coutts, Alberta, they've opened that up. So, we're seeing these things happen, but instead what's happened is now all of a sudden, he's bringing in an emergency act which has never been used before.” 

The government has seven days to get it approved in both the House and Senate from the day it was introduced.  

“There are a number of steps that have to happen, and in particular it needs to be discussed with the premiers.” 

The Premiers of Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec have all stated that they don’t want the act used in their provinces.