Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, revoked the emergency act on Wednesday. Unsubstantiated reports are that the Canadian banking and financial system suffered as citizens withdrew their currency, given that the act gave the government the power to arbitrarily freeze and seize assets without due process.
There were also unconfirmed reports that Hong Kong funds had removed their investments and that cryptocurrency exchanges were ceasing services to Canadians.
Trudeau and his government should be facing uncomfortable times ahead, as the Canadian Senate debates the question of whether the prime minister was within his right to invoke the emergency act upon peacefully protesting Canadian citizens.
Social commentator Jordan Peterson, in a YouTube interview with the prominent political pundit Rex Murphy, said that the worst of several terrible moves by the Trudeau government over the last few weeks was the decision to suspend parliament on the Friday when the emergency act was invoked, thereby preventing any discussion on the legitimacy of such a move.
Political commentator James Melville tweeted some data after the government announced that it would be freezing assets of protesting truckers and anyone who was funding them. The data showed that five of Canada’s banks went offline afterwards, posing the question whether bank runs had been initiated on the news.
According to Jordan Peterson, Justin trudeau:
“permanently destroyed 20% of the population’s faith in the entire Canadian banking system, and stained the Canadian banking system’s international reputation – I would say for decades.”
Opinion
Trudeau went to the utmost extreme in order to suppress a peaceful protest by Canadian truckers. He invoked a measure that has never before been invoked against working citizens, and is meant for such dire situations as war.
In such times, the worth and utility of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin become totally evident. When governments overreach themselves and start to confiscate and freeze the assets of their citizens it is time for people to withdraw their trust in the banking system.
No matter what is reported in the mainstream media, cryptocurrency is generally out of the reach of any government or organisation. As long as holders of crypto use their own self custody wallets, only they can unlock the funds.
It is firmly hoped that the Canadian government will come to its senses and return to a democratic and fair rule that will give citizens confidence in the banking system once more. Failure to do so might well lead to a further erosion of trust in fiat, and a more widespread move towards private digital assets.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
