Canadian Prime Minister Rescinds Emergency Action Powers, Yet Cryptocurrency Needs Grow

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he will repeal emergency powers used to freeze $8 million in 210 bank accounts linked to Canadian "Freedom Convoy" protesters, CBC News reports.

On February 24, Trudeau said in a televised news conference that he would end the special powers granted by the Emergency Action Act. "We believe that existing laws and regulations are sufficient to keep people safe," he added.

Liberty Convoy protesters have blocked streets since last month and staged weeks of demonstrations in front of Ontario's Parliament Hill to end COVID-19 orders and restrictions. The action to freeze the accounts was taken under the Emergencies Act. On February 23, the Trudeau government began to unfreeze bank accounts.

"The vast majority of accounts are in the process of being unfrozen, depending on any new information that the RCMP may have," Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance Isabelle Jacques told a committee of MPs.

After the Canadian government blocked traditional crowdfunding platforms GoFundMe and GiveSendGo, protesters turned to bitcoin on Tallycoin, raising 21 bitcoins worth about $902,000 by the end of the event on Feb. 15. The organizers of the event then transferred the BTC to a new wallet with a different private key holder.

The decision to freeze bank accounts has angered some major cryptocurrency industry players who have spoken out against the action. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell tweeted in response to the bank freeze on Feb. 18: “Due process is for civilians. In Canada, might makes right.”

Powell then said in an interview with Forbes on February 23:

"People ... should be thinking about whether the government always has their best interests at heart, or whether it will never go to the extreme of seizing bank accounts without due process."

Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul also expressed concern about encroachment by government authorities and warned that a similar situation could happen in the United States. He appeared on the Base Politics podcast with host Hannah Cox on February 20 and said:

"We have the same regulations here, and I've been a longtime opponent of those regulations. There's actually an emergency bill in the United States that allows the president to shut down the internet."