Federal elected officials will this evening cast deciding votes on the Emergencies Act, invoked Feb. 14 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after three weeks of protests in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada.

The federal New Democratic Party (NDP) has stated it will begrudgingly support Trudeau’s minority Liberal government, while the Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois are uniting to vote against it.

Kootenay-Columbia MP Rob Morrison today reiterated he will be voting against the Act for the sake of democracy.

“The decisions made by Members of Parliament tonight will reverberate through the halls of history. Those who vote in favour of the invocation of the Emergencies Act will be held to account. Government should not subject free people to abuse of wide-ranging freedom-altering overreach,” Morrison said.

“Freedom will prevail tonight, or it will prevail down the line when this government falls, but make no mistake, freedom will prevail. The choice in front of the NDP / Liberal coalition tonight is simple; protect and defend democracy or tear it down. I will be voting to defend it,” he concluded.

Should supporting party outliers vote against the Emergencies Act and it does not pass, Trudeau’s minority government would fall, triggering another election. The Act would also be struck down.

If it passes, the Emergencies Act will be in force until at least mid-March.

Read Canada’s Emergencies Act.

MP Rob Morrison addresses Parliament about the Emergencies Act.

Lead image: MP Rob Morrison addresses Parliament about the Emergencies Act. Image from Parliament video

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