Freedom Convoy: Trudeau ends national emergency after 9 days


Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that he was ending the national emergency he'd declared nine days earlier to deal with the Freedom Convoy protests against Canada's COVID-19 policies, The Washington Post reported.
"Today, after careful consideration, we're ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency. Therefore, the federal government will be ending the use of the Emergencies Act. We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe," Trudeau said.
Per the Post, this was a shift for Trudeau, who said Monday that even though the protests had been dealt with, he still worried that new blockades might develop and that "protesters might be regrouping … outside Ottawa."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Police moved in over the weekend to break up protests that had clogged streets and disturbed Ottawa residents with loud honking for three weeks, arresting nearly 200 people. Tow truck drivers, who under the terms of the Emergency Act could be compelled to cooperate with law enforcement, towed away more than 50 vehicles.
Protesters in other parts of Canada had blockaded border crossings in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.
Canada's Parliament voted Monday night to approve the invocation of the Emergencies Act, but debate leading up to the vote was fiery. One MP from the country's Conservative Party accused Trudeau of a "massive power grab," while others shouted "Dictator!"
Trudeau's government also used its emergency powers to freeze hundreds of bank accounts associated with the protests, though The New York Times reported that by Tuesday, most of those were "in the process of being unfrozen."
According to Reuters and CBC, Canada's federal government and the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ottawa, and Quebec have all relaxed COVID restrictions since the protests began.
Trudeau is the second prime minister in Canadian history to declare an emergency during peacetime. The first was his father, Pierre Trudeau.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump