Free Speech Advocates BLAST Canada Gov’t for ‘Emergency Act’ Crackdown on Financial Accounts

Canada threatened to impose financial sanctions on Canadians who support protestors. Freedom advocates raised alarm.

Canadian Deputy Prime minister Chrystia Freiland was criticized by commentators after she declared that payments processors and banks would be empowered to block accounts of Canadian Freedom Convoy protestors. The action would allow the state to seize bank accounts of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political opponents without a court order, and remove “any citizen’s recourse to the courts,” Rebel Media founder Ezra Levant said. He was responding to an retraction from The New York Times, which claimed on Twitter, “An earlier tweet incorrectly suggested that Trudeau would temporarily suspend civil liberties.” Political commentators ranging from Conservative Partnership Institute Senior Director of Policy Rachel Bovard to academic experts Jordan B. Peterson also skewered Canada’s leadership.

Bovard is also a Board Advisor to MRC Free Speech America and he slammed Canada’s government. He observed that it was part of a much larger problem across Western civilization: “Weaponizing the banking system over ideology is now becoming a pattern in the West.”

Government crackdowns on citizens’ very ability to crowdfund on issues like the Freedom Convoy protest ignited a firestorm of controversy across the internet. 

Recently retired University of Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson shredded proclamations from Trudeau, mocking his words directly: “’[T]he shared values that unite us’ our bank accounts are no longer secure from arbitrary government seizure @JustinTrudeau,” Peterson tweeted. He was then mocked Canada’s Flag Day announcement in particular, contrasting it with the current state of the republic: “‘Today we celebrate our national flag’ as crowdfunding for political protest has been redefined as a terrorist act @JustinTrudeau.”

Kara Frederick is a Heritage Foundation Fellow in Technology Policy. urged her followers to “Open your eyes” as she shared a video of the same speech from Freeland. Tweet she shared with Cyprian Twitter handle noted: “This is the panopticon and the new digital gulag. This is The Depersoning. This will expand to every country and every ‘offense.’”

Host Human Events Jack PosobiecThe video was posted by Freeland summarized: “Trudeau regime now using terrorism laws to go after crypto and crowdfunding.” He asked his followers if they were “paying attention” as he responded to a tweet announcing: “Deputy PM says that they are using emergency powers to regulate crypto.” 

The Freedom Convoy of truckers and their supporters have been staging peaceful protests against draconian COVID-19 mandates imposed by Canada’s federal government. To support its logistical needs, it has used GoFundMe and GiveSendGo crowdfunding resources. The convoy has since met massive roadblocks at every turn, from Big Tech Censorship to outright hackers reportedly exposing their donors’ information.

Conservatives are being attacked. Contact your local representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s Use the contact formHelp us to hold Big Tech responsible.