The government of Canada has ordered banks to unfreeze the accounts of people who participated in or supported the Freedom Convoy protests.
Hundreds of people were targeted as the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau froze bank accounts and other assets as part of The Emergencies Act.
Isabelle Jacques, a senior official in Canada’s finance department, said “They started [Monday] to unfreeze accounts,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Among those with a frozen bank account was a single mother who legally donated $50 to the Freedom Convoy.
Conservative MP Mark Strahl said “Briane is a single mom from Chilliwack working a minimum wage job. She gave $50 to the convoy when it was 100 percent legal. She hasn’t participated in any other way”, reported the New York Post.
On Monday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland defended the actions, saying, “These measures were put in place to disrupt illegal activity in Canada”.
“We were very clear that we would be following the money, that we would be using financial tools to disrupt illegal blockades and occupations. The focus absolutely has been on leaders and on the vehicles that were such an important part of the illegal blockades and occupations,” she added.
The Parliament Hill area is no longer full of protesters as officers sporting riot gear chased them away and used physical force.
Police reportedly froze more than 206 bank accounts and stopped transactions with 253 cryptocurrency addresses.
A statment from Freedom Convoy organizers said “This, in the short-term, is very bad for the banks and our national economy. The more severe implication, however, is that by using the Emergencies Act as financial warfare, it will sow mistrust in both the banking system and the government and the repercussions will be felt for years to come”.
