Trudeau to use emergency powers to quell Canada’s Covid protests

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will invoke emergency powers to quell protests by demonstrators who have paralysed Ottawa and blocked border crossings in anger over the country’s Covid-19 restrictions, a government official has said.

For the past two weeks, hundreds and sometimes thousands of protesters in trucks and other vehicles have clogged the streets of the capital.

The senior government official who confirmed Mr Trudeau’s decision was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.