Freeland announces measures targeting crowdfunding platforms, cryptocurencies to curtail Freedom Convoy funding

Under the Emergencies Act, Freeland said that the government is ordering financial institutions to cease providing financial services to anyone supporting the blockades, 'where the institution suspects an account is being used to further the illegal blockades and occupations.'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act will enable him to take unprecedented action in quelling the Freedom Convoy protests that took to the nation’s capital of Ottawa and inspired similar blockades elsewhere across the country — and even internationally, in Paris, Brussels, Wellington, and Canberra, among others.

At the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that measures are being taken to curtail the funding of the ongoing protests, which includes both crowdfunding platforms as well as digital assets and cryptocurrency.

“In invoking the Emergencies Act, we are announcing the following immediate actions: first, we are broadening the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use,” said Freeland.