Canadian authorities allegedly froze finances of single mom who donated $50 to protesters
OTTAWA, CANADA (TND) — A bank account belonging to a single mom making minimum wage, who made a very small donation to the Canadian “Freedom Convoy,” could potentially be among the hundreds of financial products frozen by Canadian authorities since the country invoked emergency powers last week.
A conservative member of parliament, Mark Strahl, tweeted Sunday that the mom, only identified as Briane, had her account frozen after donating $50 to the group of protesting truckers in Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) deputy commissioner of federal policing, Mike Duheme, said that authorities had frozen 206 financial products, including bank accounts belonging to individuals and corporations allegedly associated with the Canadian protests, according to CNN.
Duheme also reportedly said that in addition to freezing the 206 financial products, authorities disclosed the information of 56 entities associated with vehicles, individuals and companies, exposed 253 bitcoin addresses from virtual currency exchangers, and froze a payment processing account valued at $3.8 million.
“We continue to work at collecting relevant information on persons, vehicles and companies and remain in daily communication with the financial institution to assist them,” Duheme reportedly said.
Under the powers granted by Canada’s emergency powers, financial institutions can target accounts of people who have donated to fuel the protest through various crowdfunding platforms, according to The Daily Mail. However, questions still remain about how far the powers granted by Canada's Emergencies Act can go, and whether they permit banks to freeze accounts of people who were minimally involved in funding the protests, or who were involved in funding them when they were considered "legal."
Critics of Strahl have said the mom he has referenced in his tweets could potentially be made up.
Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair pushed back on the idea of minor donors having their accounts frozen, saying that was not the reality.
Last week, critics of the Canadian government’s move to invoke emergency powers argued the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), a state funded media outlet, was analyzing illegally hacked data obtained from Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo to out those who donated to the Canadian protests.
Using the illegally hacked data, the CBC reportedly began contacting individuals who donated to the convoy through GiveSendGo for “a story about the people who allegedly contributed funds.”
“It´s high time that these illegal and dangerous activities stop,” Trudeau said last week, according to The Associated Press. “They are a threat to our economy and our relationship with trading partners,” he added. “They are a threat to public safety.”
Following those statements from Trudeau, authorities began arresting people, with 191 people reportedly taken into custody and 79 vehicles towed away, according to The Daily Mail. Many retreated as the fear of being arrested became a reality, the outlet reported.
