Thread by @globeandmail

A big part of the federal government’s plan to end the Ottawa convoy protests and blockades includes targeting the flow of money to them.

Banks were granted expanded powers and liability protection as part of the Emergencies Act announcement.

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

How big of a deal are these new powers for financial institutions?

🔊 @jembradshaw: “I think they’re a very big deal. The banking sector is one that doesn’t change a lot or change quickly by design: It’s meant to be stable.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

🔊 @jembradshaw: “When you get something that happens very fast like this and that goes to something as essential as freezing someone’s account or halting a transaction—that’s something the banks take very seriously.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

🔊 @jembradshaw: “I think this feels like a pretty big upheaval for them.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

🔊 @jembradshaw: “This is freezing accounts. This is blocking transactions. This is stopping making funds available to withdraw.”

“In terms of how it works, that's something banks have the power to do. But usually you do that by going to a court.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

🔊 @jembradshaw: “In this case, they're going to have more unilateral power to go ahead and freeze these funds and to do it quickly.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0

Who are these measures meant to target?

🔊 @jembradshaw: “They are trying to go after the people who are lynchpins for the flow of money and the point at which it's being gathered and then dispersed again.”

bit.ly/3HUb8Z0