President Biden ordered Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to dismantle the Canadian Freedom Convoy over fears that the nationwide protests against vaccine mandates would start impacting trade in the United States, documents show.
Biden's request was made moments before Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, which the Prime Minister defended the controversial decision while testifying in Ottawa Superior Court on Friday.
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland emailed staff on February 10, stating that the White House was "very worried" that their "northeastern car plants will shut down" if Trudeau didn't stop the convoy within 12 hours, according to Daily Mail.
Brian Deese, Biden's top economic advisor, told Freeland that if the blockades were not dismantled at the border, the United States would reportedly lose $2.9 billion in trade.
Shortly after the conversation, Deese and Brian Clow, Trudeau's chief of staff, arranged a meeting with President Biden and the prime minister where the Biden administration presented Trudeau with a plan to end the convoy, POLITICO reports.
Biden and Trudeau allegedly discussed that the border blockades were a "shared problem" and were being influenced by "money, political support, and the media" with Fox News' Tucker Carlson providing daily coverage of the protests, according to a text exchange between Freeland and Clow.
On February 13, Freeland met with Alan Kestenbaum, the CEO of Stelco, one of the largest steel companies in Canada, and informed the minister that the blockades were significantly impacting their business.
According to Freeland, Kestenbaum said:
"I fear that even worse, the long-term consequences of shutting down auto plants because of lack of Canadian parts, will only convince the auto companies to 'on shore' even more and relocate supplies (and our customers) to the USA."Freeland told Kestenbaum that Canada was "determined to bring this to an end quickly" and the following day on February 14 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to end the protests.
The law froze protesters' bank accounts, banned travel to protests, seized truckers' vehicles, and placed the provinces under martial law.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association slammed Trudeau's decision as unconstitutional and said that the government failed to meet the standard for invoking the Emergencies Act, which is intended to deal with threats to "sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," the Daily Mail reports.
Reader Comments
Who the hell do they think they are?
He's to stupid.
His handlers tell him what to mumble
The "blockades" (see links below) are still in effect(and not a result of truckers)... This is not about the US making a profit("2.9 billion in trade"). Both Biden(US) and Trudeau(Canada) governments are shutting down their economies as part of the
greatcrappy reset."Effective January 15, 2022, all travelers entering Canada, including truck drivers, must use ArriveCAN to provide mandatory travel information, including proof of vaccination. Submission of mandatory travel information can be done up to 72 hours before arriving in Canada." : [Link]
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Order requiring proof of vaccination for non-U.S. citizen nonimmigrants to travel to the United States is still in effect. For more information see Requirement for Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination for Air Passengers." [Link]