A single mother in Canada has lost the use of her bank account after donating $50 to the trucker convoy protest. The lady from Chilliwack in British Columbia contacted her local representative Mark Stahl, Member of Parliament for Chilliwack-Hope, who relayed the shocking story on Twitter.
To preserve the anonymity of the victim, Stahl identified the individual only as ‘Briane’ from Chilliwack. According to Stahl, Briane took no active role in the protests, but her small token of support is now costing far more than her initial $50 donation.
“Briane is a single mom from Chilliwack working a minimum wage job. She gave $50 to the convoy when it was 100% legal,” said Stahl in a tweet on February 20. “She hasn’t participated in any other way. Her bank account has now been frozen. This is who Justin Trudeau is actually targeting with his Emergencies Act orders.”
The story has been met with mixed reactions across the political divide. Stahl confirms that huge numbers of people have reached out with messages of support for Briane and her situation, horrified by the implications of the case. On the other hand, political opponents have sought to cast doubt on Briane’s story, in some cases going as far as to even question her existence, presumably viewing outright denial as a superior strategy to defending the indefensible.
Stahl is unfazed by the criticism and vows he ‘won’t stop fighting’ for Briane. The politician remains adamant that protecting her anonymity in the current political climate is the right thing to do.
“To those of you, especially the media, demanding more details on Briane, having seen what has been said about her online today and what has been done to other convoy donors in the last weeks I am not going to help you dox her,” he said.
A heavy cost for all
The so-called Emergency Act was brought in on February 14, by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a bid to end weeks of protests against vaccine mandates.
Under the Emergency Act legislation, Trudeau’s government can misuse terrorist financing laws to freeze bank accounts, seize cryptocurrency, and to treat ordinary citizens engaged in peaceful protest as though they were insurrectionists or enemy combatants.
The severity of the punitive measures has shocked outspoken liberals such as British comedian Russell Brand, who accused the Prime Minister of ‘turning Canada into a tyrannical place.’
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has been another outspoken critic who simply said, “Due process is for plebs. Might makes right in Canada.”
Despite the criticism, Trudeau’s strategy appears to have been effective in the short term, with the weeks-long protest now coming to an end through force rather than dialogue. The longer-term consequences of that decision are harder to predict, but it does appear that Trudeau’s reputation as a liberal of any variety has taken a considerable knock.
“Hey @JustinTrudeau…Are we allowed to help people pay for groceries who have had their bank accounts frozen? Or would that make us a collaborator and have our accounts frozen too? Never lived in a dictatorship before so not sure of all the logistics,” said one particularly pithy Twitter user.
That message is not one that Trudeau or his government seems capable of hearing. As BeInCrypto reported earlier this week, Canada may now seek to make its financial surveillance powers permanent.
That would represent a further retrograde step for anyone who loves freedom, and for anyone who prizes the right to live a life free from overbearing government intrusion.
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