Trudeau To Address Commons On Emergencies Act At 1000ET

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to deliver a statement to the House of Commons on the implementation of the Emergencies Act at 1000ET (1500GMT, 1600CET). The implementation of the Act (which gives the federal gov't significant powers beyond those in the constitution) comes in response to the ongoing protests centred on the capital, Ottawa.

• Finance Minister Chystia Freeland is set to deliver a press conference alongside Public Safety Minister Mendicino and Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair at 1100ET (1600GMT, 1700CET).
• The use of the Emergencies Act, and the efforts of the gov't to stymie the anti-vaccine mandate/anti-gov't protests by freezing bank accounts and electronic assets of participants, could well serve to suppress the ongoing disruption.
• However, there is also the notable prospect that the gov'ts actions serve to further entrench divisions on each side of Canada's increasingly bitter political divide.
• Historically, Canada has not experienced the same level of political and cultural divisions that resulted in the rise of maintstram populist parties and candidates in the United States and Western Europe. The actions of the protestors, but also the rhetoric of the gov't around both the protestors and those sympathetic to their views or cause, could serve to foster US/European-style populism in the Canadian political landscape.