Alberta premier looks to RCMP to carry out enforcement at Coutts border blockade

Premier Jason Kenney said it's up to the RCMP to enforce the law at a blockade near Coutts, Alta., where large trucks and other vehicles have blocked traffic to and from the United States.

Protesters have taken up residence on the highway since Jan. 29, calling on the provincial and federal governments to immediately end all COVID-19 health mandates and restrictions, among other things.

"I've made it very clear on behalf of the government, and I believe the vast majority of the people of Alberta, that we expect law and order to be restored," Kenney said on CBC's Power and Politics.

"I do understand, that at the beginning of protests of this nature, the police have good reasons to often to seek to avoid conflict and to de-escalate. That's understandable. And we respect those tactical and prudential judgments. But this has been going on for nearly two weeks."

RCMP have been trying to encourage protesters to move to a nearby field and open up the road, but so far that hasn't happened.

The premier pointed to Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, as "a very useful tool" that police could use, as well as the Highway Safety Act.

"So there is that and a number of other legal instruments they have at their disposal," he said. "Many other laws, penalties that are available and we expect our police service to enforce the law."

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Kenney said there has only been one ticket issued under the Critical Infrastructure Act. That's something Alberta's largest public sector union, AUPE, has also pointed out.

AUPE said Friday it will seek leave from Canada's top court to continue its constitutional challenge of the bill.

"Alberta government leaders have spoken at length about using Bill 1 against environmental protests and have a track record of attacking unions and workers," AUPE president Guy Smith said in a statement Friday. 

"The fact that the government and police waited so long to charge anyone under Bill 1 during the border protests at Coutts and aren't using the act to shut down the protests entirely suggests that this will be a law that is imposed only on those with whom the government does not agree."

While Kenney said it's up to police to take action, in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford signed a state of emergency order on Friday in response to convoy protests against public health measures which have caused major disruptions in multiple areas of the province.

Ford said he will convene cabinet and "urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure."