(Ottawa) Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino finally revealed on Saturday how many bank accounts had been frozen since the law took effect. Emergency Measures Act Tuesday. For two days, the government refused to give this information, citing security reasons.
Updated yesterday at 6:07 p.m.
Financial institutions froze 76 personal or business accounts totaling 3.2 million. They can do so without fear of legal action under the powers granted by the Emergency Measures Act. These measures are intended to cut off the funding that has enabled illegal occupations in downtown Ottawa and at several border crossings across the country.
“This is another concrete example of the effect of the measures taken under the Emergency Measures Act “, he said at a press conference on Saturday.
The leader of the group of opponents to health measures the Farfadaas, Steeve Charland, who calls himself “Artiss”, indicated on Facebook on Saturday that his bank accounts and credit cards had been frozen since the day before. The group of protesters had occupied part of the Place des Festivals in Gatineau since the demonstration began in late January. They left the place Friday morning.
A measure that divides
This unprecedented use of Emergency Measures Act divides the elect. Debate in the House of Commons on the invocation of this legislation resumed early Saturday morning. About twenty deputies were present. A few hours later, riot police began pushing back protesters who had set up camp on Wellington Street opposite parliament.
The Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois oppose it. Bloc Québécois MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, the first to speak in the chamber on Saturday, called the law a “legislative bomb”.
The Emergency Measures Act is designed to make up for the inadequacy of existing laws, not to make up for the lack of leadership by the government and its prime minister.
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc Québécois MP
“For 17 days, we saw a completely inactive Prime Minister, denounced the Conservative MP, Gérard Deltell. He did absolutely nothing. Worse still, he said on February 11 that the police had everything in hand to act. However, three days later, he woke up and said to himself that this law had to be passed. »
The New Democratic Party is ready to side with the Liberal government and vote for the motion that would maintain the state of emergency for 30 days. “As a New Democrat, I can accept action to make this city safe, but our party is calling for a full public inquiry,” said MP Charlie Angus. The law already provides for an investigation to be held within 60 days of the repeal of a declaration of a state of emergency.
“Short term” use
Minister Marco Mendicino repeated at a press conference that the use of the law would be “short-term, targeted and that it respects[rait] the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. He would not say whether the government could stop using them before the vote, which is due to take place on Monday evening, if the police have finished their operation in downtown Ottawa by then. “I want to make sure I get advice from law enforcement,” he said.
The day before, the minister had alluded to the fact that the law would be useful as a preventive measure to prevent new illegal blockades from being erected near border crossings or elsewhere.
The Emergency Measures Act notably allows banks and other financial institutions to freeze, without a court order, both the personal or commercial accounts of any participant in the illegal blockings and their assets, digital or not, after obtaining information from the police. Institutions must also report these individuals to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Crowdfunding platforms and online payment services must report any large or suspicious transactions, including cryptocurrency transactions, to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada.
The Conservatives have criticized these measures because they fear abuses. MP Michelle Rempel Garner wrote to Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien on Thursday asking him to investigate the extraordinary powers now.
$20 million for businesses in downtown Ottawa
Businesses affected by the protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa will be able to receive up to $10,000 to cover operating costs they cannot defer, provided these costs are excluded from other federal programs . Some businesses have lost part of their turnover, already down due to the pandemic. The Rideau Mall, which has nearly 150 businesses, has been closed for three weeks. On day II of the demonstration, many people opposed to sanitary measures had entered without wearing a mask. Other commercial arteries were difficult to access with trucks blocking several streets.