RCMP seize weapons at border blockade as Emergencies Act declared

Global News in Canada shows that the Canadian government has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since the legislation was introduced in 1988. The move gives the federal government additional powers to help bring an end to disruptive blockades at Canada-U.S. border crossings. But as David Akin reports, critics say the move will only further divide an already discordant population.

Meanwhile, the RCMP have arrested 13 people and seized a cache of firearms, body armour and ammunition following an investigation at the Coutts border crossing. They allege one of the protesters attempted to ram a police vehicle. Heather Yourex-West reports.

The longest, most entrenched protest is in Canada’s capital city. Ottawa’s mayor had set a deadline of noon Monday for truckers encamped in the capital’s core to move out of residential streets in a bid to shrink the size of the protest’s footprint. Abigail Bimman explains how that unfolded. 

Traffic began flowing again today across the Ambassador Bridge between Ontario and Michigan. Though as Mike Drolet reports, there is still a heavy police presence in Windsor and some protesters are refusing to budge. 

Public health restrictions imposed because hospitals were overwhelmed with people sick with COVID-19 are being eased slowly across the country as hospitalizations decline. Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled his plans today, insisting the move wasn’t prompted by frustrated protesters. Caryn Lieberman explains what’s changing and when.