Finance Official Wanted to Shield Banks After Freezing of Convoy Supporters’ Accounts: Emails

Deputy Finance Minister Michael Sabia responds to a question as he testifies at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Nov. 17, 2022 . (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

The federal deputy finance minister wanted to “keep the heat off the bank branches” after accounts belonging to supporters of the Freedom Convoy movement were frozen, according to internal emails from the finance department.

“You should know that there have been threatening activities at certain bank branches,” Michael Sabia wrote to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Feb. 18, 2022. “This is causing the banks considerable concern for the safety of their employees. Indirectly, if we aren’t careful on this, they will pull back.”

No bank branches, depositors or types of “threatening activities” were mentioned in the email, according to Blacklock’s Reporter, who first reported on the emails.

Sabia’s email came four days after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, using it as a means to quash the protest against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country.

A day after the act was invoked, the Liberal government issued the Emergency Economic Measures Order that mandated Canadian banks and other financial institutions freeze the accounts of any individual or entity that “engaged, directly or indirectly” in the convoy movement, deemed illegal under the measures.

By official estimate, some $7.8 million held in 267 bank and credit union accounts and 170 bitcoin wallets were frozen.

“The [RCMP] Commissioner said that people with frozen accounts should go to their banks to have them unfrozen,” Sabia wrote. “This is a MISTAKE. They should go to local law enforcement. This keeps the heat off the bank branches and reduces the risk of violence.”

Sabia’s email was forwarded to Public Safety Canada and on to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki.

“I think we need to create a process,” wrote Lucki in her email. “Probably similar to what we do when we impound a vehicle. The owner comes to the detachment to get a slip that permits the impound to release the vehicle.”

‘Secret’ Minutes

In a cabinet meeting on Feb. 19, 2022, Freeland discussed the proposal from banks to have depositors whose accounts were frozen first report to the police before they could access their money.

“The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance reported on a conversation she had with Chief Executive Officers at the major banks,” said the meeting’s minutes which were classified as “Secret,” as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Banks were pleased that the Government was working on a plan that would see individuals with their accounts frozen report to police, prior to the bank to have their accounts unfrozen.”

The proposal was not brought into force as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 23, saying the situation no longer constituted an emergency.

Testifying before the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) on Nov. 24, Freeland said she was concerned about the impact of the freeze on bank tellers, when probed about what she was trying to convey in the Feb. 19 minutes.

“My central concern was, you know, that some poor teller not get yelled at and be held responsible, and even be in a dangerous situation,” Freeland told Commission co-lead counsel Shantona Chaudhury.

“And so that was part of the thinking behind having these measures, to give the banks, at all levels, including the tellers, the ability to say, ‘This is the government’s decision, it’s not my decision.’”

‘Affect More Than The Protester’

A week before Freeland’s testimony, Commission counsel Gordon Cameron told the POEC that the federal finance department seemed unconcerned about how the freeze had affected the Freedom Convoy protesters and supporters.

“Who takes responsibility for the fact that these accounts were frozen; that people couldn’t pay their rent, that people couldn’t buy their groceries; who takes responsibility for that?” he asked Isabelle Jacques, assistant deputy minister of finance, on Nov. 17.

“People had notice ahead of time, and if a decision was made to stay on the premises, to continue to stay involved in those activities, these people knew what could happen,” Jacques replied.

Cameron disagreed, saying the finance department had tried to deter the protest by impacting the protesters’ families and supporters.

“You’re starting to affect more than the protester, and you know that,” he said. “In the first scenario, you’re saying to the protester, ‘We are going to cut off the money you’re using to buy gas for your truck,’ or whatever. And in the second mode, you’re saying, ‘We are going to cut off your family’s money that they use to buy groceries and pay their rent, so you’d better get out of this protest.’”