Thank you, Chair.
I'm having some technical difficulties here. If I cut out, I apologize in advance.
[Technical difficulty—Editor] from some members that there have been freezes on individual bank accounts for someone merely donating, or purchasing merchandise for the blockades. The RCMP actually put out a statement, I think in part to kind of clarify this issue. I'll just read it. It's very brief. This was from yesterday:
Under the Emergency Economic Measures Order (Emergencies Act), the list that was provided to Financial Institutions included identities of individuals who were influencers in the illegal protest in Ottawa, and owners and/or drivers of vehicles who did not want to leave the area impacted by the protest. At no time, did we provide a list of donors to Financial Institutions.
We are now working with the banks to build a process to address the accounts that were frozen.
I thought that was important to clarify. The RCMP is trying to clarify who the individuals are on that list they've provided to financial institutions. Again, they're saying they're “influencers in the illegal protest in Ottawa, and owners and/or drivers of vehicles who did not want to leave the area”. It's important, because it speaks to the scope of who's on the RCMP's list and therefore who's being targeted by the financial institutions.
Could you clarify when the measures were implemented and whether or not they apply retroactively?