Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted the Emergency Act of 1988 to cut off protesters’ access to funds, including crypto.
The Canadian government introduced the Emergency Act to restrict the flow of funds to truck drivers protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions. By law, the government can freeze bank accounts and take a host of other measures to end demonstrations without going through the court system.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference today, “We are expanding the scope of Canada’s money laundering and anti-terrorism financial rules to include crowdfunding platforms and the payment providers they use.” Freeland, who also serves as finance minister, added that these actions will also include cryptocurrencies.
The move came after weeks of protests by a group of truck drivers called the “Freedom Convoy”, who took action to express their dissatisfaction with vaccination obligations. The group’s GoFundMe account was shut down by the platform on February 4 under pressure from the Canadian government, at which point the group turned to alternative financing methods, including Bitcoin.
Although the Emergency Act measures take effect immediately, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has one week to garner support from both Canada’s legislatures: the House of Commons and the Senate.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who enacted a law that legalized Bitcoin last year, also criticized the event:
“Are these people who like to teach democracy and freedom lessons to other countries?”
Are these the people who like to give lessons to other countries about democracy and freedom?
This is one of the top ranking countries in the “democracy index”?
Your credibility on these topics is now worth 0.pic.twitter.com/wCjh9bXwDt
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 15, 2022
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