What could invoking the Emergencies Act mean for the Ambassador Bridge? Experts weigh in

Emergencies Act or not, the recent blockade of the Ambassador Bridge means there will be changes with how security and enforcement will take place at Canada's border crossings, according to a national security expert.

"I suspect there will be longer-term efforts to bolster security at the border as critical infrastructure," said Wesley Wark, who is a public and international affairs professor at the University of Ottawa.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the national Emergencies Act for the first time this week following the dismantling of a blockade at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing on Sunday. 

The act gives the federal government special powers to deal with emergency situations, including those involving public order. 

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said in a statement to CBC News that temporary measures implemented through the act allows them to "refuse entry to foreign nationals arriving in Canada with the intent to participate in or facilitate a prohibited assembly."

"Foreign nationals who seek to enter Canada for these purposes can be denied boarding prior to departure, and denied entry at a port of entry," an emailed statement from CBSA read 

Windsor police did not comment on what changes might be seen at the border. The OPP said the invocation of the act would not have any impact on their role at the Ambassador Bridge.

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Along with the federal declaration, both the City of Windsor and the Ontario government have declared state of emergency orders in response to the blockade and a Superior Court justice issued an injunction to stop protesters from staging the protest on the roadway. 

Wark said that one of the values of the Emergencies Act is that it allows enforcement agencies to identify geographic zones where there can be no unlawful assembly or illegal protest.

"You can also stop that mobility and fluidity by targeting anyone trying to come in or out of that zone, which would include targeting people who are trying to move a blockade down the road for example," he said, adding that similar powers are available under the provincial emergencies act but the province chose not to use them. 

One longer-term step law enforcement can take to bolster security at border crossings, Wark said, could be physical barriers such as fencing or barriers.

"The balancing act, and we've seen this ever since 9/11 going forward, is that you may need to harden the border," he said.

"But you also don't want to make the border too sticky so that you're impeding trade and movement of people for tourism and personal pleasure and all the rest of it." 

Wark said that the Emergencies Act would give RCMP more of a lead role when it comes to dealing with the protest movement moving forward, and that the RCMP's presence could be bolstered at border crossings.

"The RCMP is responsible for border enforcement between official ports of entry, at official ports of entry it's CBSA," he said. 

"At least during the course of this emergency, that will change. We will see more RCMP presence at border critical infrastructure."

Was it necessary?

Perrin Beatty, who brought in the Emergencies Act in the 1980s as defence minister, is the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

He said that the chamber has called on the government to protect critical infrastructure across the country. 

The federal government has indicated it will bring in better protection for airports and border crossings. The act can also force tow truck companies to remove vehicles.

"We may very well see across the country, including potentially in Windsor, more measures being taken to ensure that small groups aren't able to put down critical infrastructure," he said.

He said that it is important to ask right now if it was necessary for the federal government to invoke this piece of legislation.

"I think all of us are inclined to give the government the benefit of the doubt but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be asking these questions and asking them to provide very clear answers about why this is being done," he said.

What is needed right now, he said, is resources.

"We should have never had a situation where it was possible to blockade the road to and from the bridge and so it's having the resources there to ensure these critical elements of infrastructure are able to be maintained," he said.