Trucker Convoy

An article today in the Globe and Mail by Rita Trichur discusses the freezing of the truckers convoy financial accounts under Canadian law and the Emergencies Act. Kim Manager, founder of ManchesterCF, an online financial intelligence training company based in Toronto is quoted in the article as saying:

“When we enact anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorism legislation, we expect that to be focused on transnational organized crime, terrorist groups and national security threats – not a bunch of truckers barbecuing, sitting in hot tubs and with their kids playing in bouncy castles…

“If we take that apparatus and swing those guns toward Canadians who have not been convicted of a criminal offence and who have not been designated as terrorists, we’re entering very dangerous ground. That is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime and not a democracy,” he added.”

None of these truckers have been charged so far with financial crimes. So the big question is for how long will their names be listed in the files of the police, RCMP and banks? Will the fact that their names are on these lists affect how they are treated by banks or other businesses in the future? Just how secure are these files in the hands of the constabulary and these financial institutions?

Furthermore, how long will these files be kept open? Perhaps time will tell. Years ago I was kidded by friends that surely the RCMP has a file on me because I had been instrumental in forming a group of Canadians called the Free Market Advocates in the early 1980s. Our goal? Simply to promote free enterprise in Canada. No other economic system has provided greater financial wealth, freedom and opportunities to its citizens.

I never thought that the Advocates alone would be the cause of the RCMP opening a dossier on myself until at one of our public luncheons our Guest Speaker was Murray Rothbard. Frequently controversial, Murray was a brilliant and prolific writer. The diversity of his subjects and volume of his writing was legend. He was an American economist who was considered by many to be the father of the Libertarian Party in the United States.

That also brought politics into our event, although when Murray was questioned following his presentation, discussion was focused on economics. (Our members were primarily business men and women. Some owned their own companies.)

By the way, Murray drew the largest attendance we ever had at any single event. As to the existence of my RCMP dossier — again only time will tell.