In response to Justin Trudeau’s March 23 address to the European Parliament, several lawmakers came out strongly against the prime minister’s handling of the Freedom Convoy protest, comparing his actions to those of a dictatorship. The criticism in Europe initially began around the time the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, leading to a massive police operation to clear the site of the Ottawa civil disobedience action demanding that COVID-19 restrictions be lifted. On Feb. 22, independent Irish Senator Sharon Keogan raised the issue in the Upper House of the Irish Legislature. “We have had calls in this House to address serious human rights abuses occurring in all places over the world,” Keogan said, noting she found it “odd” that she had heard nothing mentioned in the House of the “well-publicized, high-profile, peaceful protest being violently suppressed and dispersed by armed government forces” in Ottawa. Keogan described …