Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, stated that the Emergencies Act was invoked by the Canadian government to address the Freedom Convoy protests. The scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules is also broadened to cover crowdfunding platforms and “all forms of transactions, including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.”
Canadian Government Invokes Emergencies Act
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that “the federal government has invoked the Emergencies Act to supplement provincial and territorial capacity to address the blockades and occupations.”
Trudeau, the prime minister, invokes this seldom-used act to give the government temporary powers not usually granted. Trudeau said the new measures would be “geographically specific and targeted only to where they are needed.” They will also be “time-limited.”
According to the prime minister, he invoked Emergency Act to handle the Freedom Convoy protests that began on Jan. 28, when Canadian truckers opposed a vaccine or quarantine mandate. Some border crossings were closed and downtown Ottawa was paralysed by the protests.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister and the minister of finance, detailed that one of the measures enables banks to freeze accounts, stating:
A bank, or any other financial services provider, will now be able immediately to freeze or suspend an account without the need for a court order. They will also be protected from civil liability by doing this.
Freeland added: “We are today serving notice: if your truck is being used in these protests, your corporate accounts will be frozen. Insurance on your vehicle is suspended. Send your semi-trailers home.”
The deputy prime minister continued: “These illegal blockades and occupation are causing serious harm to our economy, to our democracy, and to Canada’s international standing. They can’t continue. They will not continue.”
Canada’s Emergencies Act Covers Crypto Transactions
“As part of invoking the Emergencies Act, we are announcing the following immediate actions,” Deputy Prime Minister Freeland further noted:
First, we are broadening the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use. All forms of transactions are affected, even digital assets like cryptocurrencies.
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