Freedom Convoy Fallout: Protester’s frozen accounts case highlights Emergencies Act backlash

Freedom Convoy Fallout: Protester’s frozen accounts case highlights Emergencies Act backlash

07/09/2025 // Willow Tohi // 1.3K Views

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  • Ontario judge orders RCMP and TD Bank to release records tied to freezing Freedom Convoy protester Evan Blackman’s bank accounts.
  • Government’s use of the 2022 Emergencies Act faces scrutiny over civil liberties violations, including bank seizures and coerced tow truck conscription.
  • In 2023, Blackman was acquitted of mischief and obstruction charges, but Ottawa appealed, leading to an upcoming retrial in August 2025.
  • 2024 court ruling found Trudeau’s invocation of the emergencies law “not justified,” highlighting overreach in targeting peaceful protesters.
  • Legal backers seek to link bank seizures to constitutional violations, framing the case as a landmark challenge to state powers.

A Canadian court has ordered the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and TD Bank to release records related to the freezing of a protester’s bank accounts during the 2022 Freedom Convoy, reigniting debates over government overreach and civil liberties under the controversial Emergencies Act. The ruling, issued July 4 by the Ontario Court of Justice, sets the stage for a pivotal legal battle as courts reconsider the legitimacy of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of emergency powers to quell protests against pandemic and vaccine mandates.

Evan Blackman, one of hundreds whose accounts were frozen under the law, faces a retrial in August 2025 after being acquitted in 2023 of charges related to the Ottawa demonstrations. His lawyers argue that the seizure of his funds — a decision first reviewed as lawful but later condemned by federal judges — violates Charter rights to privacy and freedom of expression. The court’s demand for transparency could unravel the government’s case while exposing systemic flaws in its pandemic-era policies.

The legal fight over “extreme overreach”

The ruling demands disclosure of documents detailing how and why Blackman’s accounts were frozen under Section 53 of the Emergencies Act, which Trudeau invoked on February 14, 2022. The law, originally designed for responses to disasters like floods or terrorist threats, granted unprecedented power to block financial transactions, seize property and militarize law enforcement.

Constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury, representing Blackman’s Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), called the seizure “an extreme overreach,” stressing that the records could prove the government “illegally punished peaceful dissent.” Blackman, an Ottawa-area protester detained after participating in nonviolent rallies, saw his three accounts frozen for over a week, potentially stifling his ability to prepare a defense during the original charges.

The JCCF emphasizes that this is the first criminal case in Canada attempting to halt proceedings under Section 8 of the Charter, which bars unreasonable searches or seizures, and Section 2(b), protecting free expression. Their stance draws strength from a 2024 Federal Court ruling by Justice Richard Mosley, who declared Trudeau’s emergency declaration “not justified,” arguing it failed to balance public interest with human rights.

The 2022 protests and their aftermath

The Freedom Convoy began on January 15, 2022, as a movement protesting vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions. By early February, it swelled into hundreds of tractor-trailers blocking Ottawa’s streets, leading Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act—a move nearly all provinces condemned.

Documents now sought by the JCCF could clarify how authorities targeted nonviolent advocates. While the government framed protests as violent, much of the event unfolded as group camping, community meals and music, according to RCMP logs obtained by the National Post. Instead, most documented violence stemmed from state actions: videos showed mounted police trampling an elderly woman and attacking journalists.

Critics argue the law’s use set a dangerous precedent. Despite a special commission later endorsing Trudeau’s emergency declaration, federal courts — including Mosley’s decision — have since eroded its legitimacy.

What lies ahead: A trial with national implications?

Blackman’s retrial in August could become a landmark test of Canada’s emergency laws. His legal team plans to argue that the federal government’s seizure of funds was retaliation for political speech, violating the Charter. If successful, similar cases by over 100 protest-era plaintiffs might proceed, reshaping how authorities handle dissent.

Meanwhile, the RCMP and TD Bank have yet to publicly comment, though the ruling binds them to comply. The outcome may also influence current debates over pandemic-era policies, as critics question the viability of invoking “extreme measures” for non-violent public assemblies.

As Fleury noted, the case “exposes a dangerous precedent where the state weaponizes financial control to silence dissidents.” For civil liberties advocates, the ruling offers a rare chance to challenge a legacy of distrust in Trudeau’s leadership — and redefine the limits of crises authority.

A new day for accountability, or an open door for state power?

The Ontario court’s demand for transparency in Blackman’s case underscores a growing reckoning with the 2022 pandemic policies. While the protests seemed forgotten to some, the legal fallout continues to reveal a government unprepared to balance safety with constitutionality — and a judiciary increasingly willing to hold it to account.

As the Aug. 14 retrial nears, Canadians wait to learn more than Blackman’s fate: whether their next crisis will be met with calm stewardship… or another round of rushed, rights-eroding reforms.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic! What Pandemic?: Statement by Travis Patron, Leader of the Canadian Nationalist Party

What Pandemic?

The recent declaration of emergency from the provincial government has proven to be unnecessary and economically debilitating.


Citizens of Redvers,

The recent “pandemic” has impacted all our lives in one way or another. Local businesses especially are feeling the pinch due to restrictions which many believe are becoming intolerable. We ourselves, the Canadian Nationalist Party, served the provincial government of Saskatchewan a notice of objection to their declared state of emergency in March of this year (www.nationalist.ca/?p=12572), claiming it was “unprecedented and unnecessary” and that these actions have a “high probability of causing undo suppression of our economic conditions – especially in rural areas of the province”.

We believe those words to be self-evident today.

What we need to do is aggressively lift restrictions and get people back to work. No amount of “stimulus” cheques can replace millions of workers who are now unemployed across the country. We need government that is capable and willing to stand up to regional, provincial, and federal agencies who limit access to public utilities, essential services, and private functions. This needs to stop. I don’t believe I’m alone when I say I PREFER NOT to wear a mask. I personally have yet to meet basically anyone who has contracted this illness. Fortunately, for those who DO contract it, there is a ~99% survival rate.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the people who’ve infiltrated our government/media are attempting to collapse our economy, extinguish our national identity, and usher in a world government surveillance state using a combination of social media data mining, artificial intelligence, and facial recognition technology. We oppose this and we hope you’ll join us …

C – O – R – O – N – A         = 6
3 – 15 – 18 – 15 – 14 – 1   = 66
                                               = 666, NUMBER OF THE BEAST, (manipulation)


“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” – Revelation 13:8

“The numbers of the beast shall be sixty-six, and six hundred and sixty-six, and the parts thereof. Because in the coil of the cycle, behold the distances are two-thirds of a circle (2/3), whether it be a hundred or a thousand or three times a thousand.” – God’s Book Of Ben

It may be necessary to disconnect from social media and the television entirely if we are to regain control of the cultural narrative. Regardless, if the good people of Redvers are not having their voices heard by their current elected officials, I am confident they will look to other local political bodies for representation – with or without the approval of the ballot box, with or without the approval of our increasingly untrustworthy media apparatus.

Our citizens demand accountability from their leaders and will not support an administration which is no longer serving their best interests.


In your service,

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Mr. Travis Patron