Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau justified, on Friday, in front of an independent investigation committee, his use of a special law that is rarely resorted to him in the time of peace to expel the Shalawa truck drivers, the capital, Ottawa earlier this year, with a “serious danger of violence.
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The occupation of truck drivers affected a protest against health restrictions, on the middle of Ottawa for weeks during the past winter in a country that is unusual on social movements of this kind.
In February, their evacuation, based on the emergency procedure law, sparked great controversy over public freedoms.
Trudeau said, justifying his decision that the demonstrators “militarized some mechanism” and using children “human shields.
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He added that the police have concerns about the accumulation of weapons, explaining that Canadian intelligence warned him of “the presence of people who promote violent extremism with ideological motives”, which may lead to sporadic attacks.
The Prime Minister narrated that the tension escalated with the outbreak of counter -protests with “grandfather’s standing in the streets of residential neighborhoods against huge trucks”, which raised fears that the Canadians would take over the movement.
Other gatherings were organized throughout the country, which led to the closure of commercial corridors, including the most crowded international border crossings in North America.
“We used to see that things are getting worse, and out of our control,” Trudeau said, explaining that the plan presented by the police “was not a plan at all” and that the opinion of his advisers and “his personal opinion was (. . . ) that we must do something to ensure the security of the Canadians “.
The Prime Minister stressed, “I am reassured and convinced that I made the right choice,” before other parties participating in the investigation were interrogated to confront an audience that included a large number of truck drivers, and the judge had to reproduce it several times due to “inappropriate” reactions.
The independent committee had met for a period of six weeks in Ottawa and listened to government officials, demonstrators, and a number of Utawa residents who were affected by the noise of continuous car trumpets and smoke emissions from diesel engines.
While listening to the witnesses of the witnesses, the committee learned that a defect inside the intelligence services and the leakage of information – two news that are currently being investigated – destroyed the police forces.
But the organizers of the “Freedom convoy” see the image differently. They made it clear that the Ottawa demonstration was a legitimate protest against the policies of the “evil” government, and they talked about a festive atmosphere with hot water basins and barbecues in front of Parliament.
Nevertheless, evidence submitted to the committee revealed that some organizers wanted, as stated, imposing control on extremist members who were calling for a coup or the spread of conspiracy theories.
After Justin Trudeau’s testimony, the committee will now consider the opinions of experts before submitting its final report no later than February 2023..
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