Federal police said only accounts at banks, credit unions and bitcoin wallets had previously been targeted
An RCMP blacklist of people who supported the Freedom Convoy has been emailed to securities regulators nationwide, with the personal information of convoy sympathizers potentially being received by thousands of financial advisors, according to internal emails.
The RCMP email, issued under the federal government’s Feb. 15 Economic Emergency Measures Ordinance, urged investment traders to review their client lists to “continuously determine whether they are owned or controlled by a property they own or hold or control” by a Freedom Convoy supporter, according to Blacklock’s reporter.
In addition, dealers were instructed to report any suspicions to the RCMP “immediately”. The blacklist, which contained the “personal information” of the identified sympathizers, was emailed unencrypted to financial institutions.
The Federal Police Service did not disclose this information at previous parliamentary hearings examining the use of the emergency law. In his testimony before the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency (DEDC) on May 10, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Michael Duheme said that only convoy supporters’ bank or credit union accounts and bitcoin wallets were affected by the measures.
The expanded scope of information sharing was first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter on September 22, which said the RCMP also shared the blacklist with lobby groups and financial institutions such as the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Canadian Securities Administration and the Mutual Association of Fund Dealers.
The information was released at the request of Conservative MP Adam Chambers, who represents Ontario riding Simcoe North, through a department inquiry filed with the RCMP in June.
In its June 14 response to Chambers, the RCMP said the information provided to financial firms was “including but not limited to” name, date of birth, addresses, associated vehicles, company and phone numbers.
‘Necessary information’
The freezing of financial accounts without a court order came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the emergency law on February 14 in response to protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country.
On February 22, Deputy Deputy Treasury Secretary Isabelle Jacques told the Standing Committee on Finance that at least 206 bank accounts totaling $7.8 million were frozen under the terms of the law.
Testifying before DEDC in May, Duheme said that as of Feb. 23, a total of 257 financial products, including bank accounts, corporate accounts and credit cards held at various institutions, were frozen.
“The disclosures by 57 companies to financial institutions included individuals, vehicle owners and drivers involved in the blockade and the identification of 170 bitcoin wallet addresses shared with the virtual asset service providers,” he said.
When asked by Senator Claude Carignan what information was provided to the banks, Duheme said the “necessary information” was sent to them.
“We have provided the banks with the necessary information so that they can determine whether or not they had to freeze the funds,” he said.
“It was the banks that froze the funds.”
consequences
Isaac Teo is a reporter for the Epoch Times in Toronto.
