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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 35

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 20, 2022 07:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 35 - Feb/20/22
Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)
  • Feb/20/22 4:35:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Emergencies Act allows the government powers without judicial oversight. That is what is going to happen. The Emergencies Act removes judicial oversight regarding the freezing of bank accounts. Earlier today, members on the Liberal side mentioned 73 bank accounts have been frozen. Andreas Park, a finance professor at the University of Toronto, expressed alarm at the scope of the government's financial measures. He says, “It doesn't just raise eyeballs, it makes your head explode.” He believes that Canadians have a “fundamental right to participate in the economy”. What the member supports is that without judicial oversight, the government can order financial institutions to freeze bank accounts. Does she think that is right? How will charter rights be protected if there is no recourse? Will people have to go to their financial institution? Do they have to go to court? There are also civil liabilities. The banks are protected when they do this, so if they do it in error to someone, how will a person have recourse during this so-called emergency the government is claiming?
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Context: House Hansard - 35 - Feb/20/22
Mr. Tako Van Popta (Langley—Aldergrove, CPC)
  • Feb/20/22 7:43:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, a number of earlier speakers made the point that the measures under the Emergencies Act are temporary in nature, yet the Minister of Finance just the other day said that some of the provisions dealing with financial services organizations, banks, credit unions and perhaps crowdfunding platforms will become permanent. I wonder if the member has a comment about that.
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Context: House Hansard - 35 - Feb/20/22
Mr. Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, BQ)
  • Feb/20/22 10:05:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the tools in the arsenal of the Emergencies Act is the seizure of bank accounts. This was announced with great fanfare. To our understanding, it would be up to a bank or financial institution to play the enforcer, to self-regulate, to determine who took part in the occupation of Ottawa, and to investigate whether a protester has left Ottawa and can therefore have their account restored. Of course, banks frequently conduct credit checks to determine the creditworthiness of clients. However, playing the enforcer to determine who has taken part in the Ottawa siege seems complicated, and I wonder how that will work.
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