This week, Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti warned Trump supporters who donated to Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” that they “oughta be worried” about having their bank accounts frozen because they support former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Lametti’s threat came during an interview with CTV News. He was asked about his comments equating “Freedom Convoy” supporters to terrorists (at about the 3:30 mark in the interview):
“You just compared people who may have donated to this to the same people who maybe are funding a terrorist,” the CTV interviewer said. “I just want to be clear here, sir. A lot of folks say, ‘Look, I just don’t like your vaccine mandates and I donated to this, now it’s illegal, should I be worried that the bank can freeze my account?’ What’s your answer to that?”
Lametti outrageously responded, saying, “Well, I think if you are a member of a pro-Trump movement who’s donating hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars to this kind of thing, then you oughta be worried.”
The Canadian official had threats for the Canadian citizens involved in the “Freedom Convoy,” as well.
He added that truckers face losing their driver’s license if they participate in the protests.
The minister’s threats come at the same time that Justin Trudeau’s government is attempting to use the country’s emergency powers to shut down political dissent. One of the measures Trudeau wants to wield as a weapon to quash free speech is the power to commit economic warfare against the protesters by freezing all their personal accounts.
Outlining the plan, Trudeau’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland recently said, “This is about following the money. This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades. We are today serving notice: If your truck is being used in these protests, your corporate accounts will be frozen.”
Freeland also warned that the government would force insurance companies to act, as well.
“The insurance on your vehicle will be suspended,” Freeland exclaimed. “Send your semi-trailers home. the Canadian economy needs them to be doing legitimate work, not to be illegally making us all poorer.”
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister:
"If your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen, the insurance on your vehicle will be suspended." pic.twitter.com/iv1K8VDhAL
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2022
This is little else but government tyranny. And make no mistake, it is just what Democrats want to do here in the U.S.A.: to use the iron boot of government to force their political opposition into silence.
Trudeau’s draconian use of emergency powers to end the truckers’ demonstrations has drawn criticism from many, even in Canada. In fact, the left-leaning Canadian Civil Liberties Association even jumped to criticize Trudeau’s actions, saying that it threatened the country’s democratic process.
“The federal government has not met the threshold necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act. This law creates a high and clear standard for good reason: the Act allows government to bypass ordinary democratic processes. This standard has not been met,” the group said.
Canada doesn’t have the same freedoms we have in the U.S., granted, but these sorts of actions are precisely the kind our founders wanted to prevent our government from bringing to bear against citizens.
Political speech is exactly the speech that the founders wanted to protect. They came from an era when overweening government used these tactics to destroy political opposition. From economic warfare — like that which Canada is putting into play — to outright arrest, imprisonment and even execution, Great Britain’s abuse of powers led directly to the American Revolution and our Bill of Rights.
Justin Trudeau is acting exactly like Mad King George did 250 years ago. And Americans had better be paying attention.