Banks Have Started Freezing Accounts of Some Involved in Protests, Canada’s Deputy PM Says

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair look on as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks about the implementation of the Emergencies Act, Feb. 17, 2022 in Ottawa. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The RCMP have started sharing names of individuals and corporations, as well as their cryptocurrency wallets, with financial institutions to freeze the accounts of some people involved with convoy blockades and protests, federal ministers say.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in a press conference on Feb. 17 that information is now being shared by law enforcement with Canada’s financial institutions to cut off funding for the ongoing protests that oppose the federal government’s COVID-19 mandates.