The cross-country border blockades of last winter to protest COVID-19 restrictions had a limited impact on trade, a senior finance department official told the Public Order Emergency Commission on Nov. 17.
“I think that it’s fair to say that the economic impact was limited, but it was limited because the duration of the blockades was limited,” said Rhys Mendes, assistant deputy minister for economic policy at the ministry of finance.
Mendes was testifying alongside other department officials, including Deputy Minister Michael Sabia and Assistant Deputy Minister Isabelle Jacques.
The commission is reviewing the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 to deal in part with the border blockades, most of which were resolved before the invocation. The act’s powers were also not used to clear any lingering blockade….