Most of the action we’ve been seeing in Canada as part of Justin Trudeau’s almost unbelievable “Emergencies Act” declaration has come from the Prime Minister himself. He’s been ordering financial institutions to freeze people’s assets and block their transactions (or at least trying to) and allowing the arrest and confinement of people who have committed no acts of violence or property damage. But Trudeau isn’t the only one getting in on the emergency power game. As Townhall editor Madeline Leesman reported today, the Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, has clearly seen the benefits of exerting some totalitarian power of his own. He plans on confiscating and selling off the trucks that took part in the convoy. But to put a little bit of positive spin on the situation, he’s at least consulting with the Parliament before doing it.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said on Saturday that he wants to sell the trucks confiscated from the protesters who took part in the “Freedom Convoy” against vaccine mandates.

Watson made the remarks in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He claimed that Canada’s “Emergencies Act,” which gives the government more power to respond to an “urgent and critical situation” that “seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it,” gives the city of Ottawa the authority to sell the trucks.

In the interview, Watson also said that the Freedom Convoy hurt small businesses in the nation’s capital and “disrupted the city.”

And what excuse does he have for this sort of robbery? Why, the Emergencies Act, of course! It’s almost magical in its ability to allow elected officials to do virtually anything that comes to mind. In this case, he claims that the taxpayers have had to shoulder the burden of the costs incurred as a result of the Freedom Convoy and those costs should be “recouped.”

You won’t need to break out an encyclopedia to figure out what “recoup” means in this context. The money won’t be going directly to benefit anyone who has hypothetically been “harmed” by the protest. It will go into the government’s coffers and they’ll simply keep it. That’s why he worked the word “taxpayers” into the statement instead of saying “the city” or “the province.”

Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, in an interview with the state broadcaster(cbc) praises Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act, and is looking into selling confiscated convoy protesters trucks and RVs.https://t.co/cTm6cKHpsA pic.twitter.com/zS3em5TAjf

— Efron Monsanto 🇨🇦🚜🚛 (@realmonsanto) February 20, 2022

In an even more ironic twist, the Mayor additionally claimed that the truckers had “hurt small businesses” in Ottawa, so this action was required. Do you know how else small businesses are hurt? When independent truck drivers have their rigs stolen and sold off they go out of business. Those trucks cost a vast amount of money, not to mention the fees associated with all of the insurance they require and the huge amounts of diesel they have to burn through. (Which is getting more expensive by the week.)

Even the larger companies that employ some of the truckers can’t afford to lose too many rigs before they go under. And while we’re on the subject, these Canadian officials keep talking about all of the disruptions to the supply chain and how goods weren’t being transported over the border as needed. After you steal all of these truckers’ vehicles and sell them off for a municipal profit, who is going to replace them in transporting all of that commerce? Gee… it almost sounds as if somebody didn’t think this through very well, doesn’t it?

The entire premise of the Emergencies Act was founded on the premise that the government might have to act quickly and sharply in the event that an actual emergency arose posing a threat to the people and infrastructure of the country. It was never intended to be permanent. Nor was it put in place to be used because some citizens spoke up and disagreed with various policies of their government. This is a disgrace. And rather than tamping down the protests, it should create even more of them.