Federal government invokes Emergencies Act

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The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Act gives police more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations, he said. Trudeau said the act also will enable the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences where required.

"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs and restoring confidence in our institutions," he said.




The federal government is broadening the scope of anti-money laundering rules and directing banks to cut off services to those suspected of aiding the trucker protesters as it looks to put an end to what it says are illegal blockades.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a late afternoon press conference Monday that crowdfunding sites, some of which are being used to channel money to the protesters, will now be required to report to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

The move, to be made permanent, will allow Fintrac to make more information available to police and other enforcement agencies, she said.


“We are making these changes because we know that these platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity, which is damaging the Canadian economy,” she said.

Freeland said that under the Emergency Act, the government has also authorized banks to cut off services to both personal and business clients who they think are aiding the blockades.
 
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A stupid prank. The good news is there's no way there was any gas in that can. That kid would never be able to move with that amount of weight on his back. It would weigh more than he does.
 

Lawyer Paul Champ, acting on behalf of a group of Ottawa residents who have launched a class-action lawsuit for damages caused by the protest, won the injunction during an unusual “ex-parte” hearing, held “in camera” — without public notice or access. The targeted defendants did not receive advance warning, nor did they have an opportunity to get a lawyer to court to contest the claims.

It was a calculated effort to halt the flow of funds after a private investigator and a bitcoin expert hired by Champ flagged that the “Freedom Convoy” organizers were moving cryptocurrency funds out of digital wallets and into new ones faster than the RCMP could keep up, and outpacing the federal government’s efforts to track them, Champ said.


At last count, according to information in the court order, at least 146 different digital wallets were believed to be in play. Most were listed as containing bitcoin, but other digital currencies were also identified.

Champ, his co-counsel, and a group of Ottawa citizens have filed a broader class-action lawsuit seeking $306 million in damages against the convoy organizers, but fear the ability to recover any reparations would be lost without the order. Champ is the same lawyer who won an injunction last week halting the trucks parked downtown from blaring their horns.

The federal government says it has been freezing accounts related to the convoy, under the Emergencies Act invoked Monday. But Champ said the government is moving too slowly.
 
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