Polls show that Canadians overwhelmingly oppose a central bank digital currency but that hasn’t stopped proponents from using crises to advance their plans for the future of currency.  

With the Bank of Canada reluctant to abandon a digital Canadian dollar, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is urging Canadians to arm themselves with knowledge as their strongest defence. 

The JCCFs released a detailed report on Wednesday outlining the risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies and their potential impact on the privacy, security, and financial autonomy of Canadians.

“While CBDCs are marketed as harmless, beneficial, convenient, and even characterized as necessary, the reality paints a far different picture,” said the JCCF.

The risks of a wholly government-controlled digital currency were highlighted in the 2022 Freedom Convoy, according to the JCCF, where peaceful protestors’ and donors’ bank accounts were frozen. 

The incident served as a crucial lesson: “Canadians should always have access to cash,” reads the JCCF report.

The Conservatives previously supported a bill to ban CBDCs and protect cash, but it failed to pass its first reading in the House of Commons. Research by the Bank of Canada showed that 86 per cent of Canadians opposed a digital currency. However, the power to create a digital loonie ultimately rests with Parliament.

“The possibility exists that a government declaration of a national emergency could empower whatever party forms government at the time to impose a CBDC—without public or parliamentary debate or scrutiny,” the JCCF warned.

Canada lacks legal protections to ensure cash remains available in the money supply and some jurisdictions are already placing further limits on its use. For example, Quebec’s Bill 54 makes it illegal to carry more than $2,000 in cash without justification.

The report also pointed out that businesses are phasing out cash transactions entirely. A study cited by the JCCF estimated that 26 per cent of grocery stores will stop accepting cash within five years.

Yet cash, the JCCF argues, is the only way Canadians can retain financial privacy and autonomy.

In Nigeria, the government introduced a CBDC despite widespread opposition. Few citizens voluntarily adopted it, prompting the government to offer incentives. When that failed, authorities restricted access to cash entirely. By 2023, Nigerians were protesting in the streets over cash shortages.

The report outlined how a CBDC would overwhelmingly benefit the government and central banks while exposing citizens to significant risks.

For example, the Bank of Canada could bypass traditional banking systems and print money without borrowing from the market through bonds. 

“The dangers here are obvious: being able to bypass the traditional banking system and having access to (or the ability to create) an endless supply of money are strong incentives to fund unaffordable or unpopular programs without public or parliamentary scrutiny,” the report reads.

A digital currency could also be used to monitor and control Canadians’ spending. A CBDC could be programmed to restrict purchases based on government policies—for instance, limiting gasoline consumption or prohibiting certain foods to advance a green agenda.

The Thai government demonstrated this potential by issuing subsidies through a digital currency that excluded people with criminal records and prohibited purchases of “undesirable” products like alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.

“Once citizens have become accustomed to a CBDC, the government could introduce authoritarian programmable features under the guise of any plausible justification, such as increasing convenience or preventing crime,” the report stated. “If governments could monitor Canadians’ purchases at the level that a CBDC would allow, nothing would stop them from rewarding or punishing people like China does,” the report reads.

Governments could also reward or punish citizens based on their political opinions.

The report called out Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney in particular.

True North previously published an investigative series on his 2021 book “Value(s) which outlined his background, beliefs and vision for the future. 

“The most likely future of money is a central bank stablecoin, known as a central bank digital currency or CBDC,” wrote Carney.

The prime minister-designate also compared the use of fear to introduce pandemic lockdowns and future monetary policy.

“With fear on the march, people were willing to surrender to Hobbes’ ‘Leviathan’ such basic rights as the freedom to leave their homes. And so it is with money. People will support the delegation to independent central banks of the tough decisions that are necessary to maintain the value of money provided the authorities deliver monetary and financial stability,” he wrote.

Carney also emphasized his support for freezing the bank accounts of peaceful protestors at the height of the Freedom Convoy protests.

“Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law,” he said in a 2022 op-ed published by the Globe and Mail. “Drawing the line means choking off the money that financed this occupation.”

The government could also funnel subsidies to politically aligned businesses, news outlets, and organizations through a CBDC system, ensuring compliance with government-approved policies.

“Simply trusting that governments would resist using CBDCs for their own benefit or power, and that they would be ethical and respect democratic traditions and Charter rights, would be shortsighted.”

The JCCF concluded its report with six recommendations, including mandating acceptance of cash, prohibiting digital currency for government benefits, and appointing a cash access committee.