Canada’s use of law freezing protesters’ crypto donations was unconstitutional: Court

A federal judge said there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the emergency law which gave the government the power to freeze assets.

The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that an emergency law that gave the government power to stem the flow of funds and crypto to support protesting truckers was unreasonable and unconstitutional.

In a Jan. 23 decision, Justice Richard Mosley concluded “there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable.”

In February 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government used the laws for the first time to freeze funds, including cryptocurrencies, donated to truckers protesting COVID-19 restrictions — which the court found was unconstitutional.

So-called “Freedom Convoy” protesters used trucks to block streets in the nation’s capital, Ottowa, to protest mandates that required truck drivers crossing the Canada-United States border to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the time, the government claimed invoking the Emergencies Act was needed as the protests were an illegal occupation.

#news #canada #regulation #btc

Jan-24-2024 08:26:38 AM