Canada's Trudeau to invoke emergencies act to deal with truckers' protests

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a news conference as truckers and their supporters continue to protest against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Patrick Doyle

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday plans to invoke rarely used emergency measures to tackle ongoing protests that have shut border crossings, and also blocked the capital for more than two weeks, sources said.

Separately, the prime minister's office said Trudeau would speak to reporters at 4:30 p.m. ET (2130 GMT) without specifying why.

One of the sources, who could not speak on the record due to the sensitivity of the situation, said the aim of using the emergency powers was to provide federal police support to local and provincial forces, not to use the military.

FILE PHOTO: Truckers and supporters continue to protest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates from the camp at the Canadian War Museum, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Chris Reese)