OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) – Canada’s federal police force is standing by their unprecedented move of freezing citizens’ private bank accounts without a court order.
In a statement by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Assistant Commissioner Michel Arcand on Monday, the official told the House Finance Committee that freezing the bank accounts of the Freedom Convoy protesters “enhanced the effectiveness of law enforcement’s investigation” and aided in bringing a “peaceful and timely end to the public emergency.”
On February 14 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act to disband the three-week long “Freedom Convoy” peaceful protest against COVID-19 restrictions in the nation’s capital of Ottawa.
GoFundMe has been called on the carpet by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for what he described in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as possible engagement in potentially unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
After the BigTech crowdfunding giant summarily and seemingly arbitrarily shut down the page for the Canadian Freedom Convoy just as donations reached $10 million, Sen. Cruz sent the letter to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan asking for the federal agency to investigate.
Please SIGN, SHARE and SUPPORT this petition to the FTC to investigate GoFundMe for potential "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
One of the main focuses of his letter is fairness.
How can GoFundMe shut down fundraising for an entirely peaceful protest by Canadian Truckers, while, to cite just one example, having allowed the fundraiser for the "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" in Seattle during the BLM/Antifa riots in the summer of 2020 to continue?
All freedom-loving people should be rightly suspicious that GoFundMe seems to apply one standard to fundraising for liberal causes, and another, far more stringent standard for conservative causes, which can effectively stop conservatives from expressing their support of a cause financially.
If this is true, it is unfair - and, undemocratic - and needs to be stopped immediately. And, that's why GoFundMe must be investigated now!
Please SIGN, SHARE and SUPPORT this petition to the FTC to investigate GoFundMe for potential "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
GoFundMe says that their terms and conditions were violated because of false claims in the media that the Canadian Freedom Convoy protests had turned violent.
But, this is simply untrue, as there has been absolutely no riotous behavior (this is Canada after all, eh).
Clearly, Ottawa is not Seattle. Ottawa is not Portland.
In fact, the Ottawa police department said that there had been only 7 arrests, for minor violations, among throngs of tens of thousands - and, organizers of the Truckers Freedom Convoy have stated that their people had nothing to do with those arrests.
Please SIGN, SHARE and SUPPORT this petition to the FTC to investigate GoFundMe for potential "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
While conservatives hate the idea of more government regulation, they hate the idea of losing their right to protest in support of freedom even more.
Smug BigTech companies should not be allowed to kill the momentum of peaceful causes they (or, their peers in Silicon Valley or Washington, DC) don't like.
Simply put, conservative causes on the GoFundMe platform must be held to exactly the same standard as liberal causes. If they are not, then the government must intervene to regulate GoFundMe, or shut them down.
Thank you SIGNING and SHARING this petition to the FTC to investigate GoFundMe for potential "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'GoFundMe freezes more than 4 million dollars raised for Canadian truckers protesting vax mandates' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gofundme-freezes-more-than-4-million-dollars-raised-for-canadian-truckers-protesting-vax-mandates/
**Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
Included in the Emergencies Act provisions was the federal government’s ability to freeze the funds of those suspected of being involved in the protest without a court order, while giving financial institutions legal immunity to do so.
According to the Epoch Times, Conservative MP Ed Fast asked Arcand why the RCMP had not obtained a court order to freeze bank accounts before the use of the Emergencies Act. Arcand replied by saying that the RCMP was not the lead investigative agency during that time and only became a primary actor after the act was implemented.
During the same committee hearing on Monday, the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) revealed that even when the frozen accounts are unfrozen, they will be marked for life. The CBA also informed the committee that financial institutions went above and beyond what was instructed of them by the RCMP, by freezing an additional 257 accounts that were not flagged by police.
Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act was met with widespread disapproval by many public figures and institutions. Immediately after the act was invoked, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) condemned Trudeau for granting himself emergency powers, and shortly thereafter announced they would be taking legal action against the federal government.
While Trudeau ended up revoking the act following rumors that the Senate was going to strike down its invocation, many of the bank accounts remain frozen and the investigation into whether the act was used legitimately is still underway.