It was a surprise to many people when they learned during the 2022 trucker protest that the Government of Canada had the constitutional authority to freeze bank accounts. This was not actually a new power, just one seldom experienced by people who were not in the drug trade. It was, as they say, a learning moment.
Now, we learn that the Bank of Canada, a piece of the governing structure of this country, has been quietly working on a new type of currency that has a few consumer-friendly advantages, but nevertheless would allow the federal government — if it wished — to exercise control over how citizens spend their money, in a way that is not possible with cash, or even bank deposits and credit cards.
This too, is a surprise.
Canada's Central Bank Digital Currency, and its possible implications for individual freedoms, is the subject of tonight's Hannaford show, with special guest Ben Klassen.
Klassen is the Education Program Co-ordinator at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, and author of the report, 'Central Bank Digital Currency? What it is and how it could impact your privacy, security and autonomy.'
In it, he writes that the increased popularity of cryptocurrencies and other digital payment systems has prompted central banks around the world, including the Bank of Canada, to explore Central Bank Digital Currencies.
While offering some marginal value-added features, he says that what's at risk is Canadians' 'privacy, security, autonomy, financial independence and even their access to economic participation.'
It is in fact, a precursor to a full cashless society, thereby removing access to the intangible but important benefits that cash provides.
"A Central Bank Digital Currency has surveillance capabilities that can be used to monitor every financial transaction a person makes, and even to program money with targetted restrictions that could differ from person to person, thereby increasing government control and reducing freedom."
Right now, the Bank of Canada program is on pause. However, the BoC has been working on this since the COVID 19 crisis.
Couldn't happen? It already is happening, in China, where access to the market is limited or enlarged according to a citizen's 'social credit' score.
Klassen: "While Canadians distrust and oppose these CBDCs, as revealed by a recent Bank of Canada survey, we are concerned that the current financial struggles of Canadians could be used to usher in a CBDC sooner than people think."
Indeed. And what happens to privacy when digital currency is melded into a system that incorporates digital ID — something already well established in Canada.
All this and more with 'Hannaford,' tonight at seven o clock.
Read the full Justice Centre report when it is released on Monday March 17th, at 10:00am.
