From The Daily Wire: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday in an effort to crack down on protesters that have shut down parts of Ottawa and various border crossings with the U.S.

Trudeau informed his cabinet and Canada’s premiers of his intent Monday morning. The prime minister’s announcement marks the first time the act, which replaced the War Measures Act in 1988, has been employed…

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The Emergencies Act powers will “strengthen” law enforcement’s ability to fine and imprison protesters, according to the prime minister. The act will be enforced most heavily in areas of “critical infrastructure” such as airports and border crossings. Trudeau said that the act also ensures “essential services” such as towing away trucks used to blockade roads and highways.

“In addition, financial institutions will be authorized and directed to render essential services to help address the situation including by regulating and prohibiting the use of property to fund or support illegal blockades,” Trudeau added…

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister, later said that banks and other financial institutions in Canada have the authority to “temporarily cease providing financial services where the institution suspects that an account is being used to further the illegal blockades and occupations. This order covers both personal and corporate accounts.”

Crowd-funding platforms, which protesters have used to sustain their weeks-long demonstrations, would fall under the enforcement of “Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules,” Freeland said.

“These changes cover all forms of transactions,” she said. “The illegal blockades have highlighted the fact that crowd-funding platforms and some of the payment service providers they use are not fully captured under the proceeds of the Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.

The Emergencies Act defines an emergency as a situation “seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it.”

Protesters with the “Freedom Convoy” have shut down parts of downtown Ottawa for roughly three weeks over restrictive COVID-19 measures and vaccine mandates. Convoy organizer Tamara Leach said earlier on Monday that protesters will continue to “hold the line” against the Canadian government’s crackdown.

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(Excerpt from The Daily Wire. Photo Credit: Getty Images)