Ottawa Grants Itself Extraordinary Powers to Prepare for ‘Potential’ Bank Runs

Ottawa Grants Itself Extraordinary Powers to Prepare for ‘Potential’ Bank Runs
A Canadian flag flies by Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 13, 2020. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Isaac Teo
Updated:
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Bank scares in the United States and Switzerland have prompted the federal government to grant itself extraordinary powers to stem any financial panic in Canada, a parliamentary committee heard on April 27.

Testifying before the Standing Committee on Finance, Rachel Grasham, a senior director with the federal finance department, said those powers will be used “only in exceptional sort of emergency situations.”