Free speech isn't allowed in Canada and if you break that rule they will seize your bank accounts.

Question

Free speech is great isn’t it?!  Try that in Canada and they will seize your bank accounts!

Answer 1

This isn't quite right. Canada explicitly protects freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Like many countries, however, it places limits on this right, such as restrictions on hate speech outlined in Section 319 of the Criminal Code.

The second part of the claim appears to reference the 2022 freezing of assets linked to some members of the Freedom Convoy, a group of truckers who blockaded highways and bridges in Ottawa to protest COVID-19 lockdowns. According to the Canadian government, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) was applied because the blockade jeopardized more than $390 million in daily trade with the United States. The New York Times reported that funds associated with the protestors were unfrozen shortly after the blockade ended.

It is important to note that the government did not seize anyone’s assets. Instead, temporary measures "froze 219 financial products, flagged 253 Bitcoin addresses tied to protesters and organizers, and led one bank to freeze 3.8 million Canadian dollars held by a payment processor". While some protesters may face longer-term financial consequences through banking institutions—such as reduced access to loans in the future—the government’s actions were limited to temporary freezes, not permanent seizures.

Comments

Citing directly from Canada's criminal code is a great way to give a direct source, thanks for your comment!

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You did a great job fact checking this claim, your sources did a great job disproving the claim. I really like how you quoted how the government never actually seized anything.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

This claim is not factually true. Canadians have their freedom of speech constitutionally protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which includes the right to express thoughts, ideas, and information. This is protected by section 2(b) in Canada’s System of Justice. However, as stated in the criminal code of section 319, they put prohibitions on hate speech and harassment in all societies. The last part of the claim is false, as I believe it to be in connection with the 2022 anti-vaccine mandate protest that was sparked throughout Canada. In the wake of the protests, Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, invoked the Emergencies Act of 1998, that would give banks the power to freeze the bank accounts of anyone connected to the protests. This information is backed by a BBC news article written on February 14, 2022 titled, Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts, as the article stated, “With no need for court orders, banks can freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests.” This event and its aftermath had also been reported by organizations such as The New York Times and NPR. The New York Times had reported that in the aftermath, no one’s bank accounts were actually seized, but they state, “froze 219 financial products, flagged 253 Bitcoin addresses tied to protesters and organizers, and led one bank to freeze 3.8 million Canadian dollars held by a payment processor.” The entirety of this claim is not presentable in any media form and has never been reported by any website, and the post linked to this question is not from a trusted, viable media source, so this claim is not accurate nor true.  

Comments

I think you did a very good job locating credible sources to respond to this claim. Referencing the criminal code from Canada's System of Justice was a great way to provide evidence against the original claim. The identification of how the claim that "Canada will seize bank accounts" was not found from any credible sources further backs up your response that the claim was an exaggerated. I think it is also important how you recognized that this might have been just misleading as Canada does have some prohibitions on certain kinds of speech in society and how the rumor of the second part of the claim may have come from protests in 2022.