Major win for PM Justin Trudeau: Canada's parliament approves Emergencies Act

In a major win for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada's parliament has approved Emergencies Act. It grants broader powers to authorities.  

The approval came after 185 votes were polled in favour and 151 against the measure. The minority Liberal government got crucial support in the parliament from left-leaning New Democrats.   

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The parliament on Monday also backed Trudeau's decision to invoke rarely-used emergency powers to end protests, which blocked streets in the capital for more than three weeks. Canadian police succeeded in restoring normalcy in Ottawa during the weekend.  

Announced by the PM recently, the special measures have been deemed unnecessary and an abuse of power by some politicians of the opposition.  

Trudeau had also told reporters earlier on Monday that his government still needed temporary emergency powers citing "real concerns" over threats in the recent future. "This state of emergency is not over. There continue to be real concerns about the coming days," he said.  

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Trudeau also called for people to work together and said, "we don't know when this pandemic is going to end, but that doesn't mean we cannot start healing as a nation".   

Green Party member Mike Morrice, who voted against the motion, said invoking the act was an "inappropriate" response to a failure in policing.   

(With inputs from agencies)