A federal blacklist containing personal information about Freedom Convoy supporters was circulated far beyond banks and credit unions, with newly released records showing regulators distributed it to thousands of financial firms.Records indicate Ontario regulators alone circulated the list to between 1,000 and 2,000 brokerages and other firms without restrictions on further distribution. Blacklock's Reporter says it remains unclear how many individuals or organizations retained copies.The blacklist was compiled as the federal government invoked emergency powers in 2022 and applied provisions of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act against people linked to the Freedom Convoy.No public accounting has documented what consequences individuals named on the list faced after receiving institutions obtained their information.The Federal Court of Appeal ruled Jan. 16 that the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act was unreasonable and that regulations allowing financial institutions to freeze assets violated Charter protections.Previous records tabled in the House of Commons showed the RCMP compiled names, birth dates, telephone numbers and other personal information before distributing the list through unencrypted email.A 2022 Inquiry of Ministry response said the information was “shared with up to 50 financial institutions,” along with industry organizations including the Mutual Fund Dealers Association and Canadian Bankers Association.The list was also provided to regulators including the Canadian Securities Administrators, Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and Ontario Securities Commission. Those organizations subsequently forwarded information to their members.The federal government froze $7.8 million held by Freedom Convoy supporters in 437 bank and credit union accounts and bitcoin wallets during the 2022 protests.Officials later acknowledged the names supplied for financial restrictions were not independently verified.“There was no verification,” Isabelle Jacques, then-assistant deputy finance minister, testified during 2023 hearings of the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency. “We didn’t do any follow up.”Bloc Québécois MP Rhéal Fortin questioned Jacques about who was responsible for determining whether individual account freezes were justified.“Financial institutions acted in good faith,” Jacques replied..Then-finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who authorized the financial measures, disputed suggestions in 2022 that names had been broadly distributed.“It’s important for all of us to be very, very careful to get our facts exactly right,” Freeland told reporters at the time.Freeland said the RCMP had provided financial institutions with names of protest leaders and organizers as well as people whose trucks were involved in occupations and blockades.“That is the only information, according to the RCMP, that the RCMP has given to financial institutions,” she said.However, a 2023 Inquiry of Ministry response revealed the RCMP also supplied the blacklist to Canadian operations of numerous foreign financial institutions.Recipients included Bank of China, State Bank of India, France's BNP Paribas, New York-based Citibank, Habib Bank of Pakistan, South Korea's Hana Financial Group, India's ICICI Bank, Japan's Mizuho Financial Group and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company.
