In the News: Greg Flynn on the politics behind the invoking of the Emergencies Act
February 17, 2022
Police in Ottawa are preparing to step up their efforts to clear protesters who’ve been camped out downtown for weeks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday. It’s a move that allows the federal government to step into areas like policing which aren’t under federal jurisdiction, Greg Flynn, associate professor in the department of political science, told Yahoo News.
“It gives them quite sweeping powers to give them the powers necessary to deal with a certain problem,” he said.
According to Flynn, calling in the armed forces to deal with the protesters is the most extreme thing that could happen, but he doesn’t think the government will do this. Instead, he believes the armed forces could be used to secure the border.
“These kinds of measures will attract criticism that rights like freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly are being violated and infringed upon,” he says.
“Invoking the Emergencies Act would make it easier for the federal government to justify violation of rights in a court of law.”
For weeks questions have been raised about the police response to the protesters. Flynn said it’s a political game that’s being played between the federal government and premiers because “no one wants to be seen as the one wielding the heavy stick.”
“The premiers keep hoping the prime minister will do it and the prime minister keeps saying the provinces have the ability to do this, so why don’t they get it done? There’s serious politics going on there.”
