Thank you, Mr. Chair, including for for fighting through your technological difficulties. We've all experienced that throughout the pandemic.
I want to start with a general statement and I will welcome anyone who wishes to respond. I suspect it's the Department of Finance that would be best positioned to do so, but if any of the witnesses want to respond, that would be great.
The invocation of the Emergencies Act has given government the right to freeze the bank accounts of individuals. This exposes individuals to potential financial ruin for, as the Minister of Justice said, supporting causes that the government does not believe are acceptable.
When you freeze someone's bank account, you are effectively removing them from society. They may not be able to pay for food to feed their children, put gas in their car to go to work or even pay for electricity to heat their homes.
I want to walk step by step through the emergency measures orders respecting the financial provisions, so that Canadians can clearly understand the financial implications. I believe there's a great deal of misinformation out there right now.
We'll start here. Pursuant to the emergency measures order, financial institutions can effectively debank someone as a designated person. Under the emergency measures regulations, a designated person is defined as anyone who has participated or supported an unlawful assembly. This gives the government incredibly broad powers. As Professor Paul David said, the debanking provisions are so broad that literally a clerk at a Quickie market, who sold a propane canister to a protester, could have his account frozen.
Witnesses, members, Canadians are afraid. Members of Parliament have received thousands of calls and emails from Canadians who are concerned that even a small contribution to a then-legal cause could result in their financial ruin.
I'm going to ask the witnesses some clear and succinct questions. I would very much appreciate their response, not for me, but for the rest of Canada.
To the witnesses, what specific acts could or would result in the freezing of a bank account?