Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will cooperate with an investigation into the use of emergency powers against protests by truckers in Ottawa and blockades at border crossings with the United States, his office said Tuesday.
Rarely used in peacetime, these powers were invoked in February after weeks of protests that paralyzed the federal capital, Ottawa, and disrupted trade.
The state of emergency commission, headed by a former judge, is due to begin six weeks of public hearings on October 13.
The prime minister’s office told AFP that Trudeau was looking forward to being asked to testify and that he welcomed the opportunity.
His decision to fall back on the Emergency Measures Act, which gives the government sweeping powers to deal with a crisis, was seen as over the top by political opponents and civil liberties groups.
Trudeau argued at the time that authorities needed “more tools to restore order” after three weeks of “dangerous and illegal activity”. A decision strongly criticized by the opposition.
Initially underappreciated, the protest movement grew out of truckers critical of mandatory vaccinations to cross the US border, before developing into a general rejection of public health rules in Canada.
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© Agence France-Presse
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