Canadian MP: Struggling single mom had bank account frozen over $50 donation to 'Freedom Convoy'

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Send an email to the Canadian Senate

Fill out the form on this page to send an email to the Canadian Senate demanding they use their authority to revoke the Emergencies Act.

take action

Canadian MP Mark Strahl, a Conservative Member of Parliament for Chilliwack—Hope says that a member of his district — a single mum — has had her bank account frozen by the Trudeau government after she legally donated $50 to the “Freedom Convoy” trucker protest.

In a post on Twitter, Strahl detailed how Brianne, a “single mom from Chilliwack working a minimum wage job” gave $50 to the convoy when it was “100% legal.”

“She hasn’t participated in any other way. Her bank account has now been frozen,” Strahl wrote.

The MP added, “This is who Justin Trudeau is actually targeting with his Emergencies Act orders.”

In a follow-up tweet, Strahl noted how the single mom became the target of criticism from those opposed to the “Freedom Convoy” protest, noting that he will not be revealing her identity to protect her.

“I am not going to help you dox her,” Strahl said, adding “I know who she is and I won’t stop fighting for her.”

To those of you, especially the media, demanding more details on Briane, having seen what has been said about her online today and what has been done to other convoy donors in the last weeks I am not going to help you dox her. I know who she is and I won’t stop fighting for her.

— Mark Strahl, MP (@markstrahl) February 21, 2022

It is unclear how many accounts have been frozen by the Trudeau government directly or at the suggestion of the Trudeau government to financial institutions.

Despite the demands of Conservative members of parliament, the Trudeau government has refused so far to provide full transparency with details regarding the accounts and individuals targeted by its move to clamp down on the protesters, who converged on Ottawa several weeks ago to protest vaccine mandates and other restrictions.

Beyond targeting bank accounts, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has suggested seizing vehicles from “Freedom Convoy” protesters and selling them, thus removing their ability to earn a living.

“This is costing a small fortune for the taxpayers of Ottawa,” Watson claimed.

“That’s one of the reasons why under the Emergencies Act, I’ve asked our solicitor and our city manager: How can we keep the tow trucks and the campers and the vans and everything else that we’ve confiscated, and sell those pieces of equipment to help recoup some of the costs that our taxpayers are absorbing? So that’s one of the provisions of the Emergencies Act, and we have been a beneficiary of the Emergencies Act,” added the mayor.

The move by the Trudeau government and the Ottawa officials has been condemned by Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance Pierre Poilievre, who described it as an “unjustifiable power grab.”

Poilievre said the targeting of those who donated to the convoy is “not just an attack on their finances, but also on their personal security.”

“If your bank account is frozen, you can’t buy food, you can’t buy fuel, you can’t pay your children’s daycare fees, and you can, under this law, face that personal attack without being charged with a single solitary crime,” he said.

He warned further: “This is time-limited, but his own finance minister said she wants some of the tools to be permanent. He said it will be geographically targetted, yet his own parliamentary secretary for justice said ‘the act technically applies to all of Canada,’ so the rules apply everywhere and indefinitely.”