Rand Paul blasts Justin Trudeau for ‘abuse’ of emergency powers after Truckers’ protest

Rand recalled how Trudeau used the Emergencies Act because he “faced a mass protest against COVID 19 restrictions in which Canadian truckers obstructed keyboard crossings and effectively shut down the capital city with their rigs. Instead of simply clearing out protesters and punishing them via conventional legal means, Trudeau invoked emergency powers broad enough to permit the financial unpursing of anyone participating in the protest.”

“He went to their bank accounts and took their money. When people raised money voluntarily through crowd financing to help these truckers, he stole that money as well through martial rule, without any rule of law,” Rand said, referring to the Trudeau government freezing the bank accounts of not only protesters but financial supporters. The senator noted that the same thing could happen in the US if “excessive presidential power” is used by either a Democrat or Republican chief executive because “men and women will succumb to the desire for power. It's inherent in all that's why we must have checks and balances.”

“Trudeau could freeze a bank account without a court order, without due process … And while native born Americans may think that emergency powers are to be used to target others, I would venture to guess that the Canadian truckers protesting COVID era mandates didn't expect that their government would treat them as foreign adversaries and freeze their accounts. If it can happen in Canada, it can happen in the US,” Rand said.

Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled on Jan. 23, 2024 that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unjustified in invoking the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy protest and that it was "unreasonable" to do so. Reports have also indicated that Trudeau relied on fabricated intelligence to justify his crackdown on the demonstrators.