Aase Ade-Akhani (9) | STAFF REPORTER
The Canadian government has just recently ended the emergency powers provided by the emergencies act formally known as the war measures act, which it invoked to tackle the weeks long protests by the freedom convoy aka “the truckers protests.” Although these emergency powers allowed the government to handle the protests, it also brought into question if and how much power democratic governments should hold in special circumstances?
Governments gaining more power and control in special circumstances is not something that is a new phenomena, but the effects and consequences have always been quite varied. In some cases like in Angola during its initial COVID-19 lockdown, the government used its power to give police the right to retaliate against citizens violating lockdown and led to the death of several citizens. During the war measures act which was implemented during both world wars to suspend the civil liberties of people who were considered “enemy aliens” (People of Japanese Descent), there were mass arrests without charges or trials. The war measures act was also invoked during the 1970 October crisis in Quebec, and finally the patriot act in the USA was used as an excuse to allow the United States to attack Iraq and thereafter start an eight year war.
On the other hand, giving governments emergency powers have been seen to do an immense amount of good. The patriot act, for example, allowed the government to give punishment for terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad through enhanced law enforcement and strengthened money laundering prevention. It also allowed the use of investigative tools designed for organized crime and drug trafficking prevention for terrorism investigations. Giving governments emergency powers also allowed for the very successful large scale lockdowns that occurred in countries like Singapore and several European countries. These powers were also what allowed countries like Switzerland to stay neutral during the world wars by allowing the government to plant bombs in and around Switzerland to prevent invasions and also allowed them to continue trade with enemy nations (Nazis).
In general I do not know if governments should be granted these powers or not, but I believe if they are granted they should only be allowed in moderation and only in very precarious situations.
