Intro to Canadian Politics

POLS 2702 A01 Term Paper

Sydney Bell, 7915129

A Familial Coincidence?

Examining the political landscape leading up to the Emergencies Act usage in 2021 and 1970. Is it more
than a coincidence both Trudeaus used it?
 On February 14, 2022, the Canadian government invoked the emergency act for the first time
ever. The act, formally known as the War Measures Act, has only been used thrice. Once during each

world war and once amidst the ‘October Crisis’ in 1970. Coincidentally, Justin Trudeau's father, then-

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was the one to use the act in 1970. It was last used to clamp down on

social movements and domestic terrorism in Quebec. Today, invoking the act has arguably more weight

and context behind it, but was used as an answer to far-right groups occupying the streets of Ottawa.  As

the only two Prime Ministers in peacetime to invoke the Emergencies act, Justin Trudeau, and Pierre Trudeau

surely both had a double edge sword looming over them. Political unrest in a time of crisis and devastation was

a major player in the leadup to the act being used in both scenarios. Public security was at stake, and the

potential for danger. Pierre and Justin had to make a big decision, a crazy coincidental decision. They had only

so much in common as Prime Ministers, like federalism, English Canada vs French Canada rivalry and

tensions with the western provinces, they were both liberals of their times. 

Very different times. 

In this paper I look at some of the circumstances that led to the Emergencies Act being used in 1970

and 2021, how the contexts compare, and the mere coincidence posed by both Trudeau Prime Ministers being

the ones to use the Emergencies Act. 

What began as a response to vaccination mandates erupted into a wide explosion of anti-government

sentiment and Anglo-Saxon superiority. The Freedom Convoy of early 2021 was a mass mobilization of far-

right forces. Truckers and supporters gridlocked Federal Parliament in Ottawa for upwards of two weeks,

paralyzing the city and blocking key Canada-USA border crossings. The convoy sent shockwaves through the

country, and on February 14, 2022, Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since it

became a law in 1988. 

The emergencies Act is ‘An Act to authorize the taking of special temporary measures to ensure safety

and security during national emergencies and to amend other Acts in consequence thereof’. 
 “For the purposes of this Act, a national emergency is an urgent and critical situation of a temporary

nature that

 (a) 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, or

 (b) seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security

and territorial integrity of Canada

and that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.”1

During both World Wars the Canadian government invoked the War Measures Act. 

Robert Borden called it during WWI, and the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King during

WWII. In times of "war, invasion, or rebellion," the Act granted the federal government broad authority to

uphold security, law, and order. The federal government was able to suspend civil freedoms and circumvent

parliament to enact measures it believed were essential for the war. Factories could be instructed to switch

from making farm equipment to creating weapons and ammunition. During both world wars, immigrants,

Germans for example, were restricted in their travels, and anyone suspected of sympathizing with the enemy

was subject to arrest and detention in internment camps without a trial. Mass arrests, detentions, and

incarceration followed as a result; human rights being fully ignored. The Canadian government has

since apologized, and the act has been redone and renamed to the Emergencies act, the one we know today.

Unlike 1970 or both World Wars, the movement that triggered the Emergencies Act did not

include any fatalities. The act was necessary to use as it grants the government new authority to prohibit

children from attending protests and to impose travel restrictions to protest locations. The act expressly

forbids public gatherings that obstruct the flow of goods, demonstrating concern for the expenses that

convoys impose on commerce. It limits access to regions near "essential infrastructure," such as water,

1
Legislative Services Branch, “Consolidated Federal Laws of Canada, Emergencies Act,” Emergencies Act (Government of Canada, November
24, 2022), https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-4.5/page-1.html.
gas, sewage, and telecommunications services, as well as to parliamentary precincts, hospitals, airports,

trade corridors, and bridges. The law allows for fines of up to CA$500 or a six-month sentence upon

summary conviction. A felony conviction after an indictment carries a $5000 fine or a maximum five-

year prison sentence. Additionally, the measure gives banks and insurance firms the right to freeze

customers' accounts and revoke their auto insurance. Under the act, crowd-funding platforms and their

payment service providers must now register with FINTRAC, Canada's national financial intelligence

agency, to which they must report significant or suspicious activities. 2 Using the act was crucial given the

convoy raised over $10 million, more than half of which came from American donors. Money was the

main mobilizer for a movement of this scale, cutting it off at the source would have immediate effects.

There was also mild concern for the health and safety of children in attendance of the convoy. Roughly

25% of blockade vehicles had children in accompaniment. The fear of child safety grew within the police

force and the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, the vehicle fumes, lackadaisically laid combustible fuel,

weapons and firearms and potential child neglect, there was much to worry. The convoy overtly used

children as an exploitative move to pray on the public's sympathy and parlayed police response. 3

 Other side effects became known during the recent inquiry over the use of the Emergencies Act.

Locals are testifying towards the Harassment and life changing situations that they dealt with as a result

of the convoy. Disabled people were housebound, unable to order groceries they depended on, students

unable to study or feared to leave to go to school, local businesses closed for weeks, Families traveling to

the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario reported children in need of chemo treatment had to reschedule

appointments. all due to the convoy. 4

A Brief look at the landscapes leading up to the usage of Emergencies Act

2
Shantz, Jeff. “Canada: State Responds to 'Freedom Convoy' by Invoking Emergencies Act.” Green Left. Green Left, February
23, 2022. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/canada-state-responds-freedom-convoy-invoking-emergencies-act.
3
Berger, M., & Coletta, A. (2022, February 18). The children of the 'freedom convoy': Kids with protesting parents complicate
police response. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 5, 2022,
from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/17/freedom-convoy-children-ottawa-protest/
4
Gilmore, Rachel. “'Freedom Convoy' Forced Kids' Chemo Delays, Rescheduling for 13 Families: Cheo - National.” Global
News. Global News, October 21, 2022. https://globalnews.ca/news/9209533/freedom-convoy-chemo-children-appointments-
cheo/.
 The landscape leading up to Pierre Trudeau's election was restless. Canada's 1960’s saw a new

wave of advocacy groups emerging. There was fighting for rights (rights that shared a vision with Pierre

Trudeau, who would later enact the Charter for Human Rights and Freedoms- Explicitly prohibiting

discrimination on the basis of colour, religion, sex, age and physical or mental disability.) The 1960s would

bring change.

“The Quebec-Canada relation was redrawn; abortion laws were reformed; welfare provisioning
expanded; native land claims, still resisted, began to secure a better hearing in the courts; specific sexual acts
were taken out of the criminal code; same-sex marriage was eventually recognized. Norms changed. The 1950s
were superseded; the 1960s gave way to the 1970s and beyond.” 5

Canada had fundamentally transformed as a result of Quebec's Quiet Revolution. By the middle of the

1960s, nearly all of Quebec's nationalist elites—in politics, the media, and academia—were calling for a

radical transformation of Canada based on the concept of two different nations, English and French. Federalist

leadership led Pierre’s views. He said Canada was not two nations, but a country of equal citizens and equal

provinces. He was a federalist with intentions to integrate French and English Canada. What was needed was a

charter of human rights that would protect minority-language rights across Canada and thus take the fuse out of

Quebec separatism.

The first iteration of the Quebec sovereignty movement was a revolutionary, separatist group whose main goal

was to split Quebec off from the rest of Canada and establish a workers' state. The Front de Libération du

Quebec (FLQ) was founded in February 1963 in the midst of Quebec's Quiet Revolution. During the Quiet

Revolution, a number of radical government reforms were implemented in Quebec, which led to the

emergence of a more contemporary way of life. Quebec continued a socioeconomic revolution that had started

in the 1940s under the leadership of Jean Lesage and the Liberals.

French Canadians continued to feel neglected, the introduction of the Quebec pension plan, state control over

hydroelectricity etc., and secularization of social services and education were among some of the reforms put

into place to fight the neglect. The transfer of fiscal authority from the federal government to the provincial

government was the main goal of these reforms. In addition to rejecting federal measures in provincial

5
Bryan D. Palmer, Canada’s “1968” and Historical Sensibilities, The American Historical Review, Volume 123, Issue 3, June
2018, Pages 773–778, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/123.3.773
subjects, Lesage's administration also launched its own provincial projects and established French to be the

operational language in Quebec. The federal government and the Quebec government frequently had tense

relations, and the proposition of the reforms certainly did not help. French Canadians were underrepresented in

the federal government, leading for the Federal government to be blamed for Quebec's difficulties. Resentful

of this unequal treatment, many Quebecers came to believe that leaving Canada would be the best way to solve

their problems. A group of Radicals bore from the Quebec separatist push, they would later be known as the

FLQ. From 1963 to 1970 they would use propaganda and terrorist activities to achieve their goals, like

bombing the Montreal Stock Exchange or the provincial Department of Labour. In 1970, FLQ would shift to

an accosting approach. The FLQ began this new approach by kidnapping British Trade Commissioner, James

Cross. They rationalized the abduction by assuming they could negotiate the release of 23 FLQ "political

prisoners" and the publication of their Manifesto, among other demands, in exchange for James Cross's safe

return. Five days after the FLQ demanded that the Quebec government publish the FLQ Manifesto but refused

to release the political prisoners in exchange for James Cross, the FLQ retaliated by kidnapping cabinet

minister Pierre Laporte just 5 days later. 

The kidnappings would provoke nationalist sympathizers and start what is known today as the October Crisis.

On the morning of October 15th following Pierre Laporte's kidnapping, demonstrations in support of FLQ

would begin, and on October 17, 1970, FLQ would kill Pierre Laporte. 6

We are certainly living in a world traumatized by Covid-19, whether people want to admit that or not.

I wanted to air on the side of forgiving for government responses to the pandemic, as at the end of the day we

are all human, and in no way prepared to handle such tenuous situations. For the past 40 years, Policymakers

in favour of neoliberalism weakened the healthcare system and economies of first world countries. Not only

are inadequate healthcare systems unprepared, but we also simply don’t have the type of community-based

health care system to accommodate treating a pandemic. Covid brought an absolute economic meltdown. Our
6
D'Aramitz, Patrice,2009. Pierre Trudeau's Invocation of the War Measures Act and the Impact on the Quebec
Sovereignty Movement, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/287206
current leaders need to accept the critiques and the blame though. Canada should have adopted the “Maximum

suppression” model, but that would have been even more detrimental to the economy and considering that's all

Canadian politicians seem to care about, they overruled scientific advisories and adopted the policy of

“flattening the curve”. Flattening the curve was never about keeping people safe, it was a ploy to protect the

asset values of the rich. It was a fight for life versus livelihood. Flattening the curve was the method for just

enough people not getting too sick but good enough to have people back to work. 

“As we continue to move toward a post-pandemic Manitoba, we want to remind everyone,

although the state of emergency is expiring, COVID-19 is still here. With vaccination rates among the
highest in the country with over 82 percent of eligible Manitobans fully vaccinated, we can help control
COVID, but it is important that all Manitobans continue to follow the fundamentals that help us limit our
risks”.7

Here in Manitoba, policymakers KNEW what the dangers and risks were, but shifted the blame onto

civilians, and minimized the sound of risks completely. Following Government suggestion, many

enterprises forced employees to return to work. So, with government failure to protect lives, and

mandates being lifted and replaced over and over, it is fair to say there was pent up frustration from

many different groups. 

The mainstreaming of the far-right in Canada expanded since Trump was elected in 2016. The

convoy was posed by some as the Canadian “January 6th”, when far right and white supremacist

forces stormed the Capital of the United States fueled with anger after Trump's election loss. Violent

riots broke loose, breaking windows, property, threatening members of Congress, and five

people were left dead. 8

Trumpism in Canada has grown, a survey done by Leger Market Research states that 33% of

Albertan voters would vote for Trump if they were US citizens. In terms of party affiliations, 44% of

7
“News Releases: State of Emergency to Expire.” Province of Manitoba, October 21,
2021. https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=52658.
8
Stovall, Tyler. “Stay Connected for the Latest Books, Ideas, and Special Offers.” Princeton University. The
Trustees of Princeton University, February 13, 2021. https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/white-freedom-invades-
the-us-capitol.
Conservatives say they would vote for trump along with 86% of PPC voters. 9Polling has shown that

a low number of conservatives see the capitol riot as the threat that liberals and independents do.

With Jan 6th still in the rear-view, the Freedom Convoy posed a similar take. Domestic terrorism

and white nationalism have been on the rise in Canada, and with the Convoy organizers proudly

sharing their political affiliations, it scared citizens nationwide. 

Not everyone who attended the ‘Freedom convoy’ are right wing, but the protests themselves are, and

were organized by individuals with extremist far right views. One of the main organizers, James Bauder,

engages in far-right groups such as Yellow-Vest Canada and Canada's Unity who have organized prior far

right movements. The fundraising organizers, Tamara Lich and BJ Dichter are openly far right and anti-

immigration. Another organizer Patrick King platforms himself on the fight to “depopulation of the Caucasian

race” and that Canada's current climate is anti-Anglo sax. Another website administrator and organizer are

Jason LaFace, who is the vice president of a neo fascist group who fights other peaceful protestors, physically

harming anti-racism activists and people struck by poverty and homelessness. 10

“Like Father, Like Son”

The popular idiom ‘like father, like son,’ is equally frivolous as it is fitting. Is it more than a mere

coincidence Trudeau prime ministers used the Emergencies act during their time at the head of the house?

As discussed above, we can see that clearly there were seething tensions that lead to the eruption

of violence to be combated by the act.  The issue of alienation is one of the major players in the leadup to

the Emergencies Act usage. In 1970, Quebec felt completely disowned by the Canadian government,
9
Fournier, Philippe J. “How Much Do Canadians Dislike Donald Trump? A Lot.” Macleans.ca, October 1,
2020. https://www.macleans.ca/politics/how-much-do-canadians-dislike-donald-trump-a-lot/.
10
Shantz, Jeff. 2022
much like how Albertans and Westerners feel today. Tensions between English and French Canada may

never be resolved, as the growing tension between East and West may continue to permeate. 

Both times the Act was used, it was requested or advised by other people in power to the Prime

Minister to use an act of force. In lieu of the 1970 demonstrations, the Quebec government informed the

federal government that military assistance would be needed to support Quebec against the fear of FLQ.

Trudeau and his cabinet acted at the request of Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa and Montreal Mayor Jean

Drapeau. The Act's accompanying regulations severely restricted the freedoms of expression and association

for anybody who belonged to, supported, or was connected to the FLQ. The regulations also gave the police

emergency powers, which they immediately used to arrest more than 450 people without warrants or charges,

holding them in custody from anywhere between a few hours to several months. 11 In lieu of the crisis, and as

unlawful it may have looked towards the people of Quebec,  according to a Gallup Poll published on

December 12th, 1970, 86% of French speaking Canadians approved the federal government’s decision to

adopt the War Measures Act regulations. 12

In 2021, utilizing the Emergencies Act was a ‘plan B’ when cabinet members and other groups

discussed how to approach the Convoy. By the second week of protest, the head of the Canadian Security

Intelligence Service - David Vigneault - advised the Prime Minister to invoke the act. 13 The broad powers of

the act deemed necessary to Vigneault, as discussed earlier. The act would cut off monetary power, which

could immediately immobilize the movement. "These are not blanket powers across the country…These will

be tools that can be used where and when… so that the police of jurisdiction dealing with blockades or

occupations have the tools necessary,".14

11
Jenish, D'Arcy. “Face to Face: Was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Justified in Invoking the War Measures Act during the FLQ
Crisis of October 1970?” Legion Magazine, November 10, 2015. https://legionmagazine.com/en/face-to-face-was-prime-
minister-pierre-trudeau-justified-in-invoking-the-war-measures-act-during-the-flq-crisis-of-october-1970/.
12
D'Aramitz, Patrice, Pierre Trudeau's Invocation of the War Measures Act and the Impact on the Quebec Sovereignty
Movement, Munich, GRIN Verlag 2009, https://www.grin.com/document/287206
13
Gilmore, Rachel. “CSIS Head Advised Trudeau to Invoke Emergencies Act during Convoy, Inquiry Hears.”
Global News. Global News, November 22, 2022. https://globalnews.ca/news/9294108/emergencies-act-inquiry-csis-
head/. /
14
Rukavina ·, Steve. “François Legault Says Trudeau's Invoking of Emergencies Act 'Not Necessary' in Quebec | CBC
News.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, February 15, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/francois-
legault-quebec-emergency-measures-act-1.6351270.
 Police were mostly on the same page with Pierre Trudeau in 1970, they were just too weak to stand

against FLQ alone. Today the dysfunction of the Ottawa police service and the chain of command and

information sharing struggles between OPP and RCMP were major components in contemplating using the act.

There was an increasing amount of convoy sympathizers, like police or Members of parliament. FLQ

sympathizers became increasingly disruptive following the abductions in 1970, but CONVOY

SYMPATHIZERS included members OF parliament and police force! "There was a steady stream of of

information and leaks coming from all of the different police forces and security agencies". There was a steady

stream of classified Information from Convoy sympathizers like Ottawa Police Service (OPS), the Ontario

Provincial Police (OPP), the RCMP and even the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. "There were

numerous times where information would come into the operation centre from various police sources that a

raid was imminent. And it happened many times."15

 The two Trudeaus also introduced policies that hurt the oil and gas sector and Western Canada more

broadly. Western alienation resonated since the Pierre Trudeau era, and incessantly bled into modern day, the

West continues to vote majority in favour of conservatives. 16 The Wests’ content with their disapproval of the

Trudeau name certainly made it easier for them to turn a protest for vaccine mandates into something bigger,

scarier and more violent. 

Pierre Trudeau was a visionary, he was not satisfied by the simplicity, “As one of his aides said during

the 1968 campaign, Trudeau thought Canadian politicians had spent far too much time squabbling about taxes
17
instead of thinking about how to make Canada “a swell place.”   With a father so highly regarded for his

betterment of Canada, did Justin Trudeau have something to prove? Justin Trudeau has dealt with a multitude

15
Tunney, Catharine.  Convoy lawyer says protesters were receiving a 'steady stream' of leaked police information.
MSN. Nov 2, 2022. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/convoy-lawyer-says-protesters-were-receiving-a-
steady-stream-of-leaked-police-information/ar-AA13EXDn?
ocid=msedgntp&cvid=07bb8853da9442c4e8d8df5c7a7b4ed7.
16
Lang, Eugene. “The Trudeaus and Western Alienation.” Policy Options, March 26,
2021. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2019/the-trudeaus-and-western-alienation/.
17
D'Aramitz, Patrice. 2009.
of issues (and scandals) over the course of his Premiership. Trudeaumania in 1970 was very different than the

Trudeau perception today. I believe that although a rare coincidence, the coincidence itself of both Trudeaus

using the act is true. If the head of the Liberal party were anyone else, they would have acted in the same

manner. 

 The invocation of the Emergencies Act resulted in the immediate decline of the movement’s violent

wing and prompted the subsequent gain in support of political and peaceful means both times it was used by

the Trudeaus. It is an issue worthy of studies as Trudeau’s decisions were made, amongst controversies. The

decisions will have further indefinite implications, but it was needed in the times it was used. 

References

Lang, Eugene. “The Trudeaus and Western Alienation.” Policy Options, March 26, 2021.
https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/november-2019/the-trudeaus-and-western-
alienation/.

Berger, Miriam, and Amanda Coletta. “The Children of the 'Freedom Convoy': Kids with
Protesting Parents Complicate Police Response.” The Washington Post. WP Company,
February 18, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/17/freedom-convoy-
children-ottawa-protest/.

Branch, Legislative Services. “Consolidated Federal Laws of Canada, Emergencies Act.”

Emergencies Act. Government of Canada, November 24, 2022. https://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-4.5/page-1.html.
Fournier October 1, Philippe J. “How Much Do Canadians Dislike Donald Trump? A Lot.”
Macleans.ca, October 1, 2020. https://www.macleans.ca/politics/how-much-do-canadians-
dislike-donald-trump-a-lot/.

Gilmore, Rachel. “CSIS Head Advised Trudeau to Invoke Emergencies Act during Convoy,
Inquiry Hears.” Global News. Global News, November 22, 2022.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9294108/emergencies-act-inquiry-csis-head/.

Gilmore, Rachel. “'Freedom Convoy' Forced Kids' Chemo Delays, Rescheduling for 13 Families:
Cheo - National.” Global News. Global News, October 21, 2022.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9209533/freedom-convoy-chemo-children-appointments-cheo/.

Jenish, D'Arcy. “Face to Face: Was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Justified in Invoking the War
Measures Act during the FLQ Crisis of October 1970?” Legion Magazine, November 10,
2015. https://legionmagazine.com/en/face-to-face-was-prime-minister-pierre-trudeau-
justified-in-invoking-the-war-measures-act-during-the-flq-crisis-of-october-1970/.

“News Releases: State of Emergency to Expire.” Province of Manitoba, October 21, 2021.
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=52658.

Rukavina ·, Steve. “François Legault Says Trudeau's Invoking of Emergencies Act 'Not
Necessary' in Quebec | CBC News.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, February 15, 2022.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/francois-legault-quebec-emergency-measures-
act-1.6351270.

Shantz, Jeff. “Canada: Far-Right 'Freedom' Convoy Descends on Ottawa.” Green Left. Green
Left, February 6, 2022. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/canada-far-right-freedom-
convoy-descends-ottawa.

Shantz, Jeff. “Canada: State Responds to 'Freedom Convoy' by Invoking Emergencies Act.”
Green Left. Green Left, February 23, 2022. https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/canada-
state-responds-freedom-convoy-invoking-emergencies-act.

Stovall, Tyler. “Stay Connected for the Latest Books, Ideas, and Special Offers.” Princeton
University. The Trustees of Princeton University, February 13, 2021.
https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/white-freedom-invades-the-us-capitol.

Tunney, Catharine. Convoy lawyer says protesters were receiving a 'steady stream' of leaked
police information. MSN. Accessed December 5, 2022.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/convoy-lawyer-says-protesters-were-receiving-
a-steady-stream-of-leaked-police-information/ar-AA13EXDn?
ocid=msedgntp&cvid=07bb8853da9442c4e8d8df5c7a7b4ed7.