Steve Scherer, David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters), Canada will impose new emergency measures that were not in place for 50 years. This is to stop funding truckers involved in nationwide protests, which has gridlocked Canada’s capital for many weeks.

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the only Canadian leader to invoke the Emergencies Act. This gives Ottawa wide powers to stop three weeks’ worth of protests that have raged across Canada and angered America.

“This illegal occupation has to stop… The only way we will measure our success is if can we restore our supply chains? Trudeau said that it is possible to stop the loss of livelihoods caused by trade with the United States.

Trudeau was forced to act after concluding law enforcement couldn’t cope with protesters. This is especially true in Ottawa, which has seen a lot of police stand by as truckers and demonstrations wreak havoc on the city.

The Act also included a number of measures by Chrystia Freiland, the Finance Minister, to stop truckers from funding. She stated that they might lose their insurance, commercial licenses and bank accounts.

Jack Lindsay, department chair of applied disaster and emergency studies at Brandon University (NYSE:) said that he thinks following money and then turning it off might be a smart strategy.

“I envision this will begin a week of political discourse about whether the government has overstepped or not.”

Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario. Ontario has the highest population of all the provinces.

Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau (Liberal Prime Minister) was the last to call for such steps. He took action in 1970 following the kidnapping of a British diplomat and a minister from Quebec by a separatist group.

However, despite his broad support for the move Monday, four provinces opposed it on Monday claiming they are able to handle protests.

On Monday, police in Alberta, one province that was unhappy, reported they had made 11 arrests and taken a lot of guns. The group members had pledged resistance to attempts to close a nearby border wall, officials said.

Canadian Civil Liberties Association protested Monday’s government’s decision and stated that “the standard” for invokeking the Emergencies Act was not met.

It is for “serious threats to the ability of Canada’s Government to protect the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of Canada”, it stated in a statement.