February 15, 2022

TORONTO (AP) — Canada has endured bitter divisions in the past, but the current wave of disruptive protests over COVID-19 restrictions is unprecedented in the extent it has undermined public trust in government leadership, starting at the top with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

On Monday, as criticism of his hands-off approach mounted, Trudeau finally took forceful action against the truckers and other protesters who have laid siege to parts of Ottawa, the capital, for more than two weeks. The prime minister invoked emergency powers that could freeze protesters’ bank accounts, target crowdfunding sites used to support them and ban blockades at border crossings, airports and in Ottawa.

Unsurprisingly, the pronouncement further angered the protesters and many of their conservative backers; a wave of social media posts denounced Trudeau as a tyrant. But there was also little enthusiasm for the move anywhere else on Canada’s political spectrum.

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