U.S. Republican Senator Rand Paul delivered a scathing critique of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former finance minister Chrystia Freeland during a Senate address on Wednesday, just days after Freeland announced her resignation from cabinet.
Paul accused the pair of trampling democratic principles by invoking emergency powers to debank and suppress participants in the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.
“Emergency powers were not the type of rule our founders anticipated for our country. The other name for emergency rule is ‘martial law’,” said Paul.
“If anyone doubts that emergency powers can be abused, just look to Canada.”
Paul referenced the unprecedented use of Canada’s Emergencies Act, which Trudeau invoked Feb. 14, 2022, to crack down on the protest against COVID-19 mandates.
The decision allowed authorities to freeze bank accounts without court orders, seize funds raised through crowdfunding platforms, and cancel insurance for vehicles involved in the demonstrations.
Earlier this year, a Federal Court decision ruled that Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act were unconstitutional, as were several of the measures employed under the act.
Paul warned of the dangers such unchecked executive power poses to civil liberties. He quoted extensively from Gene Healy of the Cato Institute, who characterized Trudeau’s actions as a cautionary tale for democracies worldwide.
“Instead of simply clearing out the protesters and punishing them via conventional legal means, Trudeau invoked emergency powers broad enough to permit the financial ‘un-personing’ of anyone participating in the protests,” Paul said, highlighting the seizure of funds and freezing of personal bank accounts as evidence of overreach.
Paul’s speech also underscored Freeland’s explicit endorsement of the measures at the time. Freeland described the emergency powers as a tool to suspend accounts, freeze assets, and pressure protesters to withdraw
“As of today, a bank or other financial service provider will be able to immediately freeze or suspend an account without a court order,” said Freeland at the time.
We are today serving notice: If your truck is being used in these protests, your corporate accounts will be frozen. The insurance on your vehicle will be suspended.”
Paul condemned these actions as an attack on due process and basic rights.
“While native-born Americans may think that emergency powers are to be used to target others, I would venture to guess that the Canadian truckers protesting COVID-era mandates didn’t expect that their government would treat them as foreign adversaries and freeze their accounts. If it can happen in Canada, it can happen in the United States,” said Paul.
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