Canadian PM defends crackdown, says emergency not over

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended his use of emergency powers to end weeks-long protests and argued that the measures need to remain in force for now.

Trudeau has been criticized for his decision earlier this month to invoke the Emergencies Act for only the second time in Canada's history. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union is suing the government for heavy-handed tactics.

"This state of emergency is not over," Trudeau said in his first appearance before reporters since authorities at the weekend broke up what the prime minister called "dangerous and unlawful" protests.

Canadian lawmakers were to vote later Monday on whether or not to support extending the Emergencies Act for an additional 30 days.

Canada has been in the international spotlight for weeks as thousands of protesters converged on Ottawa and hunkered down for a sit-in. They brought the capital Ottawa to a standstill and blocked border crossings into the United States.

Trudeau claimed that the movement, which started as a home-grown protest, had been infiltrated by foreign elements.

He also claimed that the blockades "received disturbing amounts of foreign funding to destabilize Canada's democracy."

On Sunday, Canadian police claimed to have retaken the capital Ottawa. They smashed the windows of vehicles parked in the downtown core of the capital to search and tow them away after the city witnessed two days of tense standoffs. 

Security forces also manned checkpoints restricting access to a 200-hectare downtown area, and put a sizable force on standby to disperse protesters. They took down tents, food stands and other makeshift structures erected by the demonstrators.

The sweep came on the heels of violent crackdowns by police, deploying chemical irritants, pepper spray and stun grenades against protesters and detaining hundreds of people in several cities.

MG