David Lametti, Canada's minister of justice and attorney general, is warning that Canadians who contributed money to the protesting truckers' convoy should be worried about their bank accounts being frozen and said the donors are part of a "pro-Trump movement."
Lametti made his remarks during an interview on CTV News in Canada, where he was asked if average citizens who gave money to the protesters' blockade in Canada over COVID-19 restrictions should be concerned with having their bank accounts frozen.
"If you are a member of a pro-Trump movement who is donating hundreds of thousands of dollars, and millions of dollars to this kind of thing, then you ought to be worried," Lametti said.
The Daily Mail reported that nearly 44% of the almost $10 million in contributions to support the truckers protest came from U.S. donors, according to hacked donor files. Some 92,800 individual donors are listed in the leaked files.
After ordering the Emergencies Act, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has extraordinary powers, including the ability to seize bank accounts without ordinary due process.
The Associated Press said the Emergency Act also empowers law enforcement officials to declare the truckers' blockade illegal, tow away trucks, and punish drivers by arresting them and freezing their bank account.
Lametti compared the process to what the Canadian government already does to those suspected of being terrorists.
"We already do this with respect to terrorist financing; we already do this with respect to money laundering," he said. "What we are doing is extending the same kind of principles and procedures to this situation."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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