I Am Surprised and Pleased

While I do think that Justin Trudeau was too passive in dealing with the right-wing Nazi truckers who shut down Ottawa, I am surprised that he has just ended the use of the Emergencies Act, meaning that normal jurisprudence will be applied from this point on.

Generally, when an executive is granted extraordinary powers, they are loath to give them up:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is revoking the use of the Emergencies Act, the powerful legislative tool that was deployed in response to protests and blockades that erupted in Ottawa and at border crossings over recent weeks.

"The situation is no longer an emergency," Trudeau told a news conference.

"We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe."

The Governor General signed off on the revocation on Wednesday afternoon, which formally ended the state of emergency.

MPs in the House of Commons voted to affirm use of the act on Monday. The Senate was in the midst of debating the act on Wednesday but withdrew the motion shortly after Trudeau made his announcement.

This is unequivocally the right thing to do, and that makes it rare in the upper echelons of politics.