Canada's prime minister is taking the unprecedented step of invoking emergency powers to quash COVID-19 protests. Demonstrators have occupied streets and highways for weeks, at times paralyzing international trade.
Justin Trudeau will grant special temporary powers to help bring protests to an end. He aims to more easily punish rule breakers and cut off their access to funds.
(Justin Trudeau / Canadian Prime Minister)
"We'll always defend the rights of Canadians to peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression, but these blockades are illegal, and if you're still participating, the time to go home is now."
Trudeau called the move a "last resort" to keep the nation safe and secure.
Protests erupted across Canada after the government required cross-border truck drivers to be vaccinated.
◆unprecedented 先例のない、かつてない never having happened before, or never having happened so much
◆ quash(反乱や暴動を)鎮める、抑えこむ to say or do something to stop something from continuing
◆ paralyze まひさせる、しびれさせる if something paralyses you, it makes you lose the ability to move part or all of your body, or to feel it
◆blockade (道路や港湾などの)封鎖 the surrounding of an area by soldiers or ships to stop people or supplies entering or leaving
◆ vaccinate ワクチン接種をする to protect a person or animal from a disease by giving them a vaccine 類義語 immunize