Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland last night called the Freedom Convoy a “core threat to the Canadian economy” but provided no figures to prove it..According to Blacklock's Reporter, members of a Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency challenged Freeland to justify cabinet’s use of the Emergencies Act against truckers..“The core threat was to the Canadian economy, to our reputation,” said Freeland. “Every single day that went on, that really was the blow to Canada’s reputation. It was a blow to every single Canadian who goes out and tries to get someone to invest in the country.”.“Why would demonstrations on Wellington Street have an impact on the Canadian economy?” asked Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin (Riviere-du-Nord, Que.). “What is the link? I don’t see it.”.“There were two types of impact, first of all on the broader Ottawa region and secondly on the reputation of Canada as a politically stable state,” replied Minister Freeland. “That is very important for investment. All that was affected by the occupation.”.Cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act for nine days in February. The order saw a total of 230 people arrested, typically charged with mischief, and some $7.8 million frozen in bank and credit union accounts belonging to convoy sympathizers..Freeland at the time called the truckers’ blockade a threat to Parliament. “What we are facing today is a threat to our democratic institutions, to our economy and to peace, order and good government in Canada,” Freeland told reporters on February 14. “This is unacceptable. It cannot stand and it will not stand.”.Committee members last night challenged Freeland to produce any data or documents justifying the claim of economic harm. “You are the minister of finance,” said Senator Claude Carignan (Que.). “Do you have the figures when it comes to giving us data on the economic impact of the blockade?”.“I have many figures in my head,” replied Freeland. “It was clear there were damages every day.”.Freeland said the blockade threatened “Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner, as a reliable investment destination, as a country with peace, order and good government, as a country with stable and effective political institutions. These are some of the most precious things we have.”.New Democrat MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, Ont.) ridiculed the finance minister’s testimony. “I am not talking about feelings,” said Green. “I am not talking about reputation, about how bad we might look in the world. I am talking about quantifiable facts”:.“The economic impact to the region of Ottawa was clear," Freeland said. "The economic impact of actual trade which was blocked, and the ongoing future economic impact, the harm done to our reputation-”.“Can you quantify it?” Green interrupted..“I had many conversations with Canadian business leaders," Freeland responded.."That’s not good enough," Green said. “I need to know the government had within your department facts that would meet the economic impact of the occupation to be significant enough to meet the threshold of a threat to national security.".The joint committee earlier heard testimony the law was written to be used only as a last resort in extraordinary circumstances. “Emergencies legislation is designed to be legislation of last resort,” Perrin Beatty, 71, retired defence minister who wrote the Act, testified March 29. “It’s explicit on that. It is designed to be used when there is no other legal authority available.”
