Don’t comment on ‘frozen’ bank account claims until they are verified, Conservative MPs advised

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This article was published 22/02/2022 (940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conservative MPs have been urged to verify claims about bank accounts frozen under the government’s Emergencies Act powers — and send them to the Opposition Leader’s office for review — before commenting publicly, according to a note obtained by the Star.

“In this charged environment, it’s critical that we communicate in a co-ordinated and accurate fashion,” said a note sent this week by Dane Lloyd and Raquel Dancho, the Conservative critics for emergency preparedness and public safety respectively.

“Doing otherwise gives the Liberals a chance to distract from their power grab, and attack us instead.”

The note asks Conservative MPs not to comment on any cases they have not been able to verify.

In a statement to the Star on Wednesday, the office of Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen said “the purpose of the memo is to aid MPs in helping constituents; verification is important to avoid any misinformation or confusion.”

Bank accounts related to the so-called “Freedom Convoy” were frozen after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act last week.

The issue gained widespread attention after a tweet from Conservative MP Mark Strahl went viral.

Strahl claimed that a constituent he identified as “Briane,” a single mother with a minimum-wage job from Chilliwack, B.C., had her bank account frozen for donating $50 to the Freedom Convoy “when it was 100 per cent legal.”

Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu also tweeted that a “lady in my riding” had her bank account frozen for purchasing a $20 Freedom Convoy T-shirt.

Questions were immediately raised about the “Briane” allegation, with the RCMP stating Monday that it had not shared a list of donors with financial institutions. Cabinet ministers said frozen accounts were largely related to protest organizers and people whose vehicles had clogged the streets of Ottawa for weeks.

On Tuesday, Finance Department officials told a parliamentary committee that accounts are now in the process of being unfrozen, but that it is possible that banks may have acted on their own to freeze accounts of some donors.

In their note, Lloyd and Dancho outlined the steps Conservative MPs should take to confirm claims of frozen bank accounts related to the protest. They included verifying the identity of the constituent, asking the constituent to get written confirmation from their bank branch manager that their account was frozen in accordance with the Emergencies Act, and getting consent from the constituent that they can share their story, “including specifics like their first name.”

They were told to forward that information to the communications team in the Opposition Leader’s Office, where Lloyd and Dancho would review the cases “and work with you and OLO Comms to determine the communications path forward.”

Strahl said in a statement Tuesday evening that he had verified “Briane’s” first and last names and her address, and that he had seen the receipt for her donation to the convoy.

“Briane informed me that her bank account had been frozen at the same time that the government began freezing the accounts of other Freedom Convoy supporters,” he said.

Noting the comments made by finance officials on Tuesday, Strahl added “I am hopeful that Briane will regain access to her account as soon as possible.”

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz