You know, Senator, when it comes to the powers that the RCMP felt they needed, I think it would be most appropriate to hear directly from the RCMP.
I have spoken about court orders and the much more time-consuming process to get a court order for each account, versus the approach that the Emergencies Act permitted.
In saying that, though, I do want to emphasize one thing, which is that I am really aware of the seriousness and the gravity of the authority that the Emergencies Act granted when it came to freezing bank accounts, so I want to pick up on something that you said. The point here was to freeze, to suspend. It was in no way to confiscate. I also want to point out that those accounts were unfrozen as of February 24. I further want to point out that the decisions were made by financial institutions themselves based on their reading of the act, and also based upon conversations with the RCMP.
These were not political decisions, and in no way were small donors focused on.