Federal official says `extreme measures' needed to end protest donations

OTTAWA — Even a $20 donation to the Freedom Convoy after Feb. 15 could result in the donor's bank accounts being frozen, a Commons committee heard Tuesday.

As reports of frozen accounts linked to convoy donations continue to roll in, members of the Commons finance committee spent Tuesday afternoon questioning staff from the Canada Revenue Agency and the departments of Finance and Justice about the controversial emergency measures that allow police to lock bank accounts of those suspected of funding the illegal protests without first obtaining a court order.

“Just to be clear, a financial contribution either through a crowdsourced platform or directly, could result in their bank account being frozen?” Conservative MP Philip Lawrence asked Department of Finance Assistant Deputy Minister Isabelle Jacques. “Yes,” she replied. “They didn't have to actively be involved in the protest, they didn't have to be here in Ottawa at one of the blockades?” Lawrence asked.

“No, not themselves,” she replied.

“It could be indirectly.” Such action, she said, would only be taken on donations made after Feb. 15's emergency declaration and isn't retroactive — adding such a case would be “very unlikely,” but definitely possible.

She also said police stopped freezing accounts on Monday as the Ottawa occupation had been cleared.

A statement issued Monday by the RCMP denied providing names of convoy donors to financial institutions, explaining they provided banks with a list of individuals “who were influencers in the illegal protest in Ottawa,” as well as truck drivers and owners who refused to leave the area when ordered.

The Trudeau government's emergency measures have been widely panned by observers and opposition members, who say the occupations in downtown Ottawa and at land border crossings this month don't meet the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act.

Answering queries from Tory MP Adam Chambers, Jacques said police have the power to freeze accounts in a variety of situations but said invoking the act fills critical gaps in current money laundering and terrorism-financing laws.

The emergency orders, she said, now require crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers to register with FINTRAC, Canada's national financial crime and intelligence agency.

Pointing to the province of Ontario's Feb. 10 injunction to freeze donation access under Sec. 490.8 of the Criminal Code, Chambers questioned Jacques as to why Ontario's Attorney General was able to do what the Federal Liberals said was impossible without declaring an emergency.

Jacques declined to offer a legal opinion but suggested the federal government wanted to make an impression upon those considering offering financial support.

“We had to take extreme measures to freeze the accounts to basically discourage people to fund illegal activities.”