OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said Canada had to start healing after police cleared downtown Ottawa of a truckers’ blockade that had paralyzed the city for three weeks in a protest against COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
“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,” Trudeau told a news conference. He defended his decision to invoke emergency powers last Monday, citing what he called the threat to the economy.
“This state of emergency is not over. There continue to be real concerns about the coming days,” he said, without giving details.
Police spent two days clearing protesters from the downtown core, making 191 arrests and towing 79 vehicles by the time the operation ended on Sunday.
The protesters initially wanted an end to cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers, but the blockade turned into a demonstration against Trudeau and the minority Liberal government.
“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,” said Trudeau.
Legislators in the House of Commons are due to vote at about 8 p.m. Eastern Time (0100 GMT Tuesday) on whether to back Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. The left-leaning New Democrats say they will back the Liberals, ensuring that the measure will be approved.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)
