A number of protesters who set up a blockade at the border crossing near Coutts, Alta., left after Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized a cache of weapons and made a series of arrests on Monday.
Trucks, tractors and trailers seen blocking Highway 4 in Coutts had cleared the road on Monday afternoon, with protesters telling CTV News they decided to leave after police launched a raid on a smaller group within the larger protest.
Alberta RCMP say they arrested 13 people in total and seized multiple firearms, including 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, ammunition and high-capacity magazines.
RCMP Supt. Roberta McKale said the weapons were brought in by people who intended on "causing harm."
"A number of different acts has created a situation where we’re investigating conspiracy to attempt to commit murder," she said.
Police also allege that a large farm tractor and semi-truck involved in the blockade attempted to ram a police vehicle. RCMP say they have identified the driver of the tractor and are searching for the individual.
The move came the same day the federal government declared a public order emergency, invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time since the law came into effect in 1988.
Additional powers granted under the emergency order include prohibiting public assemblies such as blockades and other protests deemed to be unlawful, authorizing the RCMP to enforce municipal and provincial laws, and imposing fines or imprisonment for breaches of measures.
After formally declaring an emergency, the federal government must table a motion in Parliament within seven sitting days to allow the House of Commons and Senate to confirm it. Both chambers also have the power to revoke the declaration.
"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protect people’s jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions," Prime Minister Trudeau said during a news conference on Monday.
"We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue. The Emergencies Act will also allow the government to ensure that all essential services are rendered."
The federal government says the emergency measures will be "time limited" for the next 30 days and localized to certain blockades.
"We are not preventing people from exercising their right to protest legally, we are reinforcing the principles, values and institutions that keep all Canadians free," Trudeau said.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association argues that the federal government has not met the threshold to invoke the Emergencies Act,
"Governments regularly deal with difficult situations, and do so using powers granted to them by democratically elected representatives," the organization said on Twitter. "Emergency legislation should not be normalized. It threatens our democracy and our civil liberties."
The invoking of the Emergencies Act has received mixed responses from Canada’s premiers, with some supporting the initiative and others opposing it.
Tamara Lich, one of the principle organizers of the Freedom Convoy, said earlier on Monday that strengthened police involvement would not intimidate the protesters.
"There are no threats that will frighten us," she told reporters. "We will hold the line."
Others echoed that same message during another news conference on Monday, urging protesters not to budge.
"In Alberta, at Coutts, I know there’s people leaving, please don’t leave, stand your ground," said George Billings, who is listed as the co-founder of a cryptocurrency platform called Freedom Convoy Token.
"There’s help coming from the south, stand your ground people and stand up for your rights and freedoms."
THE MONEY
Also part of the emergency declaration is a broadening of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing legislation to cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday that the changes would cover cryptocurrencies.
Financial institutions can temporarily stop providing services to personal and corporate accounts suspected of furthering the blockades, freeze or suspend an account without a court order, and report anyone believed to be involved in the blockades to the RCMP or Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
All crowdfunding platforms and their payment service providers also must register with FINTRAC, or the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, and report "large and suspicious transactions," Freeland said.
She added that the federal government plans to put forward legislation to make the FINTRAC rules permanent.
"We are making these changes because we know that these platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity, which is damaging the Canadian economy," Freeland said.
A partial list of donors to the Freedom Convoy campaign on the U.S.-based platform GiveSendGo also was leaked.
OTTAWA AND OTHER PROTESTS
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said on Monday that progress is being made to reduce the size of the convoy protests.
He said "several trucks" left the city’s downtown core as the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act.
Watson said convoy leaders have acted on their commitment to also move some vehicles from the residential district south of Wellington Street, where Parliament is located.
The Ottawa Police Services Board was scheduled to meet this morning. However, board members are now expected to meet privately first before holding a public session at noon.
Protesters have staged demonstrations in Ottawa for more than two weeks in a bid to see vaccine mandates end.
Constant honking in the city’s downtown led to a 10-day court order, launched as part of a class-action lawsuit brought forward by area residents, earlier this month prohibiting its use.
An Ontario judge also granted the city a court injunction to enforce noise and idling bylaws.
The Ontario government declared a state of emergency on Friday, creating stiffer fines and penalties on protesters, including a maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment for non-compliance.
Ontario will ease restrictions on Feb. 17, with proof of vaccination requirements set to lift March 1. Premier Doug Ford claimed the change is not due to anti-mandate protests.
Police in B.C., meanwhile, arrested four people for mischief at a protest near the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey.
A blockade near the border crossing at Emerson, Man., remains ongoing. Both it and the border crossing at Coutts, Alta., remain closed as of Tuesday.
Traffic has resumed over the Ambassador Bridge linking Windsor, Ont., and Detroit after police removed remaining demonstrators who had blocked the critical border crossing.
About 30 people continued to protest outside of the New Brunswick legislature in Fredericton on Monday. Police arrested three people over the weekend for blocking or stopping traffic in contravention of the province’s Emergency Measures Act.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
A driver crosses an open lane at a protest blockade at the United States border in Coutts, Alta., on Feb. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A protester holds a hockey stick wrapped in a Canadian flag above his head, Feb. 14, 2022, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Traffic flows over the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, Feb. 14, 2022 after protesters blocked the major border crossing for nearly a week in Windsor, Ont. (AP Photoxjmtzyw/Paul Sancya)
