Police arrest protestors as mounted officers move towards the main Freedom Convoy protest in downtown Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2022. (Richard Moore/The Epoch Times)
An RCMP blacklist of individuals who supported the Freedom Convoy was emailed to securities regulators nationwide, with the personal information of convoy sympathizers potentially being received by thousands of financial advisors, according to internal emails.
Issued under the Emergency Economic Measures Order enacted by the federal government on Feb. 15, the RCMP email told investment dealers to check their client lists to “determine on a continuing basis whether they are in possession or control of a property that is owned, held or controlled” by a Freedom Convoy supporter, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
In addition, the dealers were told to report any suspicions “without delay” to the RCMP. The blacklist, which contained the “personal information” of the identified sympathizers, was emailed to financial institutions unencrypted.
The federal police service did not disclose this information at previous parliamentary hearings studying the invocation of the Emergencies Act. In his testimony before the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency (DEDC) on May 10, Deputy RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme said that only the bank or credit union accounts and bitcoin wallets of convoy supporters were targeted in the measures.
The widened scope of information sharing was first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter on Sept. 22, saying that the RCMP had 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 Fund Dealers Association.
The information was divulged at the request of Conservative MP Adam Chambers, who represents the riding of Simcoe North in Ontario, through an Inquiry of Ministry filed with the RCMP in June.
In its response to Chambers on June 14, the RCMP said the information provided to financial entities “included but was not limited to” name, date of birth, addresses, associated vehicles, businesses, and phone numbers.
‘Necessary Information’
The freezing of financial accounts without a court order came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 in response to protests against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa and across the country.
On Feb. 22, Isabelle Jacques, assistant deputy minister of finance, told the Standing Committee on Finance that at least 206 bank accounts totalling $7.8 million were frozen under the provisions of the act.
In his testimony before the DEDC in May, Duheme said as of Feb. 23, a total of 257 financial products, which included bank accounts, corporate accounts, and credit cards held in different institutions were frozen.
“The disclosure of 57 entities to financial institutions included individuals, owners and drivers of vehicles involved in the blockade and the identification of 170 Bitcoin wallet addresses, which were shared with the virtual asset service providers,” he said.
Asked by Senator Claude Carignan what information was provided to the banks, Duheme said the “necessary information” was sent to them.
“We provided the necessary information to the banks for them to determine whether or not they had to freeze the funds,” he said.
“It was the banks that froze the funds.”
