OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — After ordering the freezing of Freedom Convoy supporters’ bank accounts last year, recently disclosed emails show that government officials wanted to keep the “heat off” financial institutions so they would stay happy and continue to comply with government dictates.
Per Blacklock’s Reporter, Deputy Finance Minister Michael Sabia, in an internal email dated February 18, 2022, noted to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland that he had complained to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Brenda Lucki, and cabinet members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, to “‘keep the heat off the bank branches” following the unprecedented freezing of citizens’ funds during the Freedom Convoy protest.
The emails show that Sabia said there were “threatening activities at certain bank branches” following the government’s controversial decision, and that banks were having “considerable concern for the safety of their employees.”
“Indirectly, if we aren’t careful on this they will pull back,” he added.
The notes from Sabia did not name which banks were not happy with some of their clients who had their accounts frozen. Nor did he detail what the “threatening” activities were.
However, his email came only four days after Trudeau’s cabinet made a blacklist of Freedom Convoy supporters whose bank accounts were scheduled to be frozen without a court order.
Sabia noted that Lucki saying “people with frozen accounts should go to their banks to have them unfrozen” was a “MISTAKE,” and that people should have been directed to “local law enforcement” instead.
“This keeps the heat off the bank branches and reduces the risk of violence,” he added.
After his email was sent to Lucki, and the Department of Public Safety, immediate action was proposed.
Lucki stated that a “process” similar to when one’s car is impounded was needed, which involves the owner going to a law enforcement “detachment to get a slip that permits the impound to release the vehicle.”
The freezing of bank accounts without a court order was an unprecedented action in Canadian history, and was only allowed through the Trudeau government’ invocation of the never-before-used Emergencies Act (EA).
Under the EA, the government froze some $8 million from the bank accounts of 267 different people. along with roughly 170 bitcoin wallets.
While Trudeau ultimately revoked the EA on February 23, just a week after its February 14 implementation, the unprecedented freezing of citizens’ bank accounts led to immense backlash by civil rights groups and the public alike.
Despite the backlash, last month during a round-table discussion at the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC), panel member Dr. Gerard Kennedy, who along with other POEC members was tasked with advising government officials on future policy in light of the Freedom Convoy, seemed to agree with the controversial freezing measures taken by the Trudeau government, saying it was “efficacious” and “even justified” for banks to freeze the assets of demonstrators for protesting government COVID measures.
Kennedy’s apparent support for the measure came after it was revealed one month prior that a Canadian banking executive had, at the time, suggested that Freedom Convoy protesters could be labeled as “terrorists” by the government to allow for a quick freezing of their funds.
During Freeland’s own testimony before the POEC, it was revealed that she even agreed with one Canadian bank CEO’s call for possible military intervention to put an end to the peaceful protest.
As it stands, the full impact of the Trudeau government’s use of the EA is yet to be determined, with the POEC slated to release a full report with their findings and recommendations no later than February 20.