Thank you very much.
I'd like to thank all of you for your testimony. It's very much appreciated.
As you are all aware, Bill C-8 was a fiscal aid update. Its stated purpose was to help the Canadian economy recover from the pandemic. However, in the interim, we've had another significant event. The government's escalation of the Ottawa protest has now led to the invocation of the Emergencies Act. Among the powers the government has given itself is the ability to freeze dissenters' bank accounts. I'll read from the proclamation. It says that payment processors must:
...report certain transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and to require any financial service provider to determine whether they have in their possession or control property that belongs to a person who participates in the blockade....
In the justice minister's comments to the media, he clearly included political dissent in those comments.
My concern is for the economy and the economic impact that will have.
Perhaps I'll start with you, Mr. Taillon. If, in fact, the government overreached with these powers and Canadians felt as though their assets were exposed and could potentially be frozen because of political dissent, what impact could that have on the economy?