Ontario government shuts down 39 trucking companies for participating in Freedom Convoy

03/02/2022 / By Kevin Hughes

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has closed 39 independent trucking companies for their participation in the Freedom Convoy protest against Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.

In another round of anti-protest sanctions, the ministry affirmed that 12 trucking companies in Ontario and 27 outside the province have been slapped with seizure orders canceling their authority to carry out business in Ontario following their alleged involvement in the Freedom Convoy protest. (Related: Canada’s Freedom Convoy invokes waves of protests against Canada’s COVID mandates.)

“In an effort to preserve future police investigations into the illegal occupation in Ottawa, the ministry will not release the names of affected businesses at this time,” a ministry spokesperson stated, indicating a criminal investigation may be initiated against the 39 trucking companies that participated in the protest.

Plates of 24 passenger vehicles from Ontario and 34 from outside the province were also suspended. According to the Ottawa Police 115 vehicles were towed during the protest.

Trudeau government cancels Emergencies Act

Truck News reported the confirmation of the sanctions on Feb. 23, the same day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau canceled the Emergencies Act and Ontario Premier Doug Ford removed the province’s state of emergency.

In spite of the cancelation of the Emergencies Act, World Economic Forum member and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland asserted that some of the powers given to the federal government through the Act could be made lasting.

Contained in the measures the government applied was the monitoring of cryptocurrency exchanges and crowdfunding platforms, along with the suspension of private bank accounts without a court order.

Meanwhile, Canada has ordered banks to unlock accounts that belong to people who joined or supported the weeks-long Freedom Convoy protest that saw nearly 200 arrests and brutal force response from police.

Trudeau’s government earlier suspended bank accounts and other assets during what they announced as an “emergency period” in Ottawa. According to one local conservative MP, among those targeted was a single mom with a minimum wage job who gave just $50.

Freeland defended the freezing of accounts on Feb. 21.

“These measures were put in place to disrupt illegal activity in Canada,” she said. “We were very clear that we would be following the money, that we would be using financial tools to disrupt illegal blockades and occupations. The focus absolutely has been on leaders and on the vehicles that were such an important part of the illegal blockades and occupations.”

She also told protesters that the “way to get your account unfrozen is to stop being part of the blockade and occupation.”

The Freedom Convoy demonstrations originally focused on Canada’s COVID vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but changed into a wider protest against the country’s highly restrictive COVID precautions and Trudeau’s false liberal government.

Ottawa protesters are mostly gone from the Parliament Hill area after having been driven away by officers sporting riot gear in what was the biggest police effort in Canada’s history.

Canadian police ordered freeze on bank accounts

Police reportedly ordered a freeze on more than 206 bank accounts, including one valued at $3 million. A few individuals and organizations having multiple accounts were reportedly affected by the financial freezing. Police also stopped transactions concerning 253 cryptocurrency addresses.

In a statement released on social media, Freedom Convoy organizers said the freezing of bank accounts was a “financial warfare” and it left many citizens in shock.

“This is already backfiring. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau keeps expanding the list of political opponents whom he is targeting with financial sanctions. In response, Canadians are pulling their money out of the banks and realizing the value of cryptocurrency,” the organizers stated.

“This, in the short-term, is very bad for the banks and our national economy. The more severe implication, however, is that by using the Emergencies Act as financial warfare, it will sow mistrust in both the banking system and the government and the repercussions will be felt for years to come.”

“Trudeau is tearing the fabric of our nation like never before, and the evidence is stacked against him. Our hearts go out to each and every innocent, freedom-loving Canadian that has fallen victim to this government’s illegal, impulsive and tyrannical overreach,” the group added.