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Canada

Canada's inflation rose to 40-year highs this year while Bitcoin's price plummeted in the same period.

According to a new Twitter post on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made critical remarks regarding newly elected opposition leader Pierre Pollievere's pro-crypto platform, writing:

"We’ll also call out questionable, reckless economic ideas. Telling people they can opt out of inflation by investing in cryptocurrencies is not responsible leadership."

In a separate TV appearance, Trudeau reiterated the remarks, adding that "responsible leaders" shouldn't advocate for individuals to "invest their life savings in volatile cryptocurrencies."

On Saturday, Calgary-born politician Pierre Pollievere won 68.15% of the votes in an election for the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, or the official opposition to the incumbent Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau.

Pollievere is a pro-crypto advocate who has pledged to transform Canada into "the blockchain capital of the world," citing positive job creation prospects within the Web3 sector and a lower cost to access financial products as reasons to support the intent. In past interviews, Pollievere claims that the government is "ruining the Canadian dollar," and that Canadians should uconsider other forms of money, such as crypto.

Earlier this year, Canada declared a state of emergency after a convoy of truckers, dubbed the "Freedom Convoy," blockaded the downtown area within the nation's capital, Ottawa. The group advocated for an end to all coronavirus-related lockdown measures and an end to vaccine mandates.

In response, the Trudeau government invoked the country's Emergency Act, empowering banks to freeze funds related to protestors' activities. Subsequently, an Ontario judge ordered millions of Bitcoin-denominated donations to the group's wallet address to be frozen. The RCMP, or Canada's federal police, also requested crypto exchanges to freeze wallets held by protestors.

As of July 2022, inflation in Canada stood at 7.6%, representing the highest level in the past 40 years. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies have not held on as an "inflation hedge" this year, with the overall market cap of digital assets falling over 60% from January.

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Canadian PM candidate supports freedom to use Bitcoin as money

March 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Conservative candidate for Prime Minister believes Canadians should be free to use Bitcoin and other crypto assets as money in the Great White North.

The Canadian Conservative Party candidate for Prime Minister, Pierre Poilievre, has come out in support of allowing Canadians to use Bitcoin (BTC) as legal money in the country.

The YouTube channel BITCOIN posted a video on March 29 of Poilievre saying that the people of Canada need “more financial freedom” before a crowd of about 100 at a local restaurant. He added, “That includes freedom to own and use crypto, tokens, smart contracts, and decentralized finance.”

“People should have the freedom to choose other money. If the government is going to abuse our cash, we should have the freedom to use other, higher quality cash.”

Earlier this year, the Canadian government led by Liberal Party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had taken a hard-line approach against crypto in response to the Freedom Convoy protests that took place in Ontario. In January and February, Canadian officials froze bank accounts of protestors and attempted to block all donations to the truckers, including those made in crypto.

Conservative leadership candidate @PierrePoilievre buys chicken shawarma from @TheRealTahinis using bitcoin Lightning Network. Transaction cost was one satoshi, which the consumer covers. This was the first bitcoin purchase at Tahini’s. pic.twitter.com/T5hVlY4fy0
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) March 28, 2022

The Executive Director of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium (CBC) Koleya Karringten told Cointelegraph today that right now “it’s a hostile environment from the Liberal government towards crypto,” which is “due to a lack of knowledge, understanding, and regulatory clarity.”

“It’s important to have a strong advocacy position to educate the government on blockchain. Once they see the level of tax revenue, they will know this isn’t an industry for criminals, it’s an industry for innovation.”

Karringten believes there are now more crypto holders following the complications caused by PM Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act in February. The non-profit organization Catalyst said on Feb. 23 that those complications may have resembled a bank run.

Despite his fervency, Poilievre’s support of cryptocurrency may still only resonate with a small group of Canadians. By last October, research firm Ipsos had determined that only about 14% of Canadian citizens over the age of 18 owned cryptocurrency. However, that number is up from just 3% in 2016, signaling a tremendous growth rate.

The outlook for adoption looks bright, as Ipsos also found that about 25% of Canadian adults are considering buying crypto in the future. This sentiment is consistent with a study reported by Cointelegraph in January which concluded that out of 1,000 Canadian respondents, 62% would be interested in being paid in crypto by 2027.

Kerrington shares the optimistic outlook for Canada’s adoption of crypto. She said that there has been a “huge increase” in the amount of interest expressed by residents of provincial Alberta, where the CBC operates. She added:

“Banks can’t ignore it anymore. Politicians can’t ignore it anymore. They are all starting to ask ‘How can we adopt it?’”

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February 27, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Trudeau revokes emergencies act powers but the case for crypto grows

February 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Canadian PM has also begun to unfreeze many of the bank accounts of protestors and donors to the Freedom Convoy who are turning to Bitcoin to protect them from future interference.

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has announced he will repeal emergency powers used to freeze $8 million from 210 bank accounts connected to Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ protestors, according to CBC news.

On Feb. 24, Trudeau stated in a televised press conference that “we’re ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency” and said that his special powers granted by the Emergencies Act would end. He added: “We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe.”

Today, after careful consideration, we’re ending the use of the Emergencies Act. Existing laws and local law enforcement authorities can keep people safe, and we’ll continue being there to support provincial and local authorities to protect Canadians.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 24, 2022

Freedom Convoy protesters had blockaded streets and demonstrated to end Covid mandates and restrictions for weeks in front of Ontario’s Parliament Hill since last month. The action to freeze accounts was taken under the Emergencies Act. On Feb. 23, the Trudeau government began unfreezing bank accounts.

Isabelle Jacques, assistant deputy minister of finance, told a committee of MPs: "The vast majority of accounts are in the process of being unfrozen, subject to any new information that the RCMP may have,” she said, referring to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

After being blocked from traditional crowdfunding platforms GoFundMe and GiveSendGo by the Canadian government, protesters turned to fundraising with Bitcoin on Tallycoin and raised 21 BTC valued at about $902,000 at the time the event ended on Feb. 15. The organizers of the event then moved the BTC to a new wallet with separate key holders.

I have been on the phone with Canadians all day.

This is not a drill.

Bitcoin. Get on the mission.
— Alex Swan.com ∞/21m (@alexstanczyk) February 22, 2022

The decision to freeze bank accounts outraged some major crypto industry players who spoke out against the action. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell responded to the bank freezes by tweeting on Feb. 18: “Due process is for plebs. Might makes right in Canada.”

Powell later told Forbes on Feb. 23

“People…ought to think about whether the government is always going to have their best interests in mind, or that it would never go to this extreme of confiscating bank accounts without due process.”

Concerning to see stuff like this happening in any country, especially such an economically free place like Canada.

Self-custodial wallets are important! ->https://t.co/ppIvaIcWWh https://t.co/nJw2EhyJhd
— Brian Armstrong - barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) February 15, 2022

U.S. Senator Republican Rand Paul also voiced concerns about the encroachment of government authorities, and sounded the alarm about the possibility of a similar situation happening in the United States. He appeared on the Based Politics podcast with host Hannah Cox on Feb. 20 and sai:

“We have the same sort of statutes here, and I have long-time been an opponent of these. We actually have in the United States an Emergency Act that allows the president to shut down the internet.”