Bank Run? Canada’s Top Banks Mysteriously Go Offline. Currently, something is going on with the banks in Canada – what is it? Some people that donated money to Freedom Convoy reported they cant access their bank accounts online.
Earlier this week that the government in Canada announced that they will be taking the assets of individuals backing the trucker protests in the country. The Canadian government has warned that it will freeze the bank accounts and suspend the vehicle insurance of truckers who continue to form blockades in protest of vaccine mandates, as the country declares a national emergency to quell the resulting gridlock.
Days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would invoke emergency orders to crack down on demonstrators by freezing their bank accounts, five major Canadian banks went offline on Wednesday night, as customers reported their funds were unavailable, according to technology website Bleeping Computer.
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), BMO (Bank of Montreal), Scotiabank, TD Bank Canada, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) were all hit with unexplainable outages on Wednesday evening. Users began reporting issues with banks around 1600-1700 ET, Downdector data showed.
What the hell is happening to Canada’s banks right now? pic.twitter.com/NRjPWlG0GE
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) February 16, 2022
This ‘run’ may be related to the state’s actions according to some guesses.
Bank run starting 😜. If you threaten to take people's money a lot of them get worried and take their money out. Banks don't like seeing a lot of money go out, so they 'go down' to stop the run. Only <2% of the money is paper and coins, the rest is just digits on a screen.
— Jabba🏴🇬🇧🇺🇸✡️✝️ (@JamesAB999) February 16, 2022
RBC reported that things should be ok by now.
I got the same response. I was hung up on when I tried to call customer service.
— Max Rarity 🧙🏻♂️ (@ThizzWashington) February 16, 2022
Canadian Twitter users reported they couldn’t access their funds at the ATMs. One user took a photo of an error message at one of RBC’s ATMs that read, “Tap transactions aren’t available for this card.”
RBC atm pic.twitter.com/OtI9M7ikrr
— Inmate780 (@AB_inmate) February 16, 2022
In response, RBC tweeted, “We are currently experiencing technical issues with our online and mobile banking, as well as our phone systems.”
“Our experts are investigating and working to get this fixed as quickly as possible, but we have no ETA to provide at this time. We appreciate your patience.”
BMO customers also reported issues. One customer said, “I’m having trouble and money transfer just auto gets rejected for no reason. Not going over my limit, all info is verified correct and receiving bank says no issues on their end.”
There were countless stories of banking customers who experienced trouble accessing their funds yesterday evening. No bank explained the source of the outrage, but essential to note the outage comes, as we said above, days after Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act.
The power gives the federal government direct access to banks to force any business conducted with Freedom Convoy protesters and affiliates to freeze their bank accounts. Trust in the banking system among depositors is crucial to prevent bank runs. Freezing accounts of people linked to the protests can incite fear.
Google Trends shows Canadians have panic searched “bank run,” first jumped on Tuesday then went parabolic on Wednesday, right around the time the bank outages were reported.
Canadians have panic searched “bank outages Canada,” “bank run Canada,” “bank run definition,” and Canadian bank run” yesterday.
There’s been a lot of speculation about the outages. Some Twitter users have said “banks are faking outages” to minimize bank runs as people lose faith in the banking sector, following Trudeau’s comments earlier in the week.
“Do you think people will keep their money in institutions that now can easily freeze it from them?” one Twitter user said.
One Twitter user wasn’t surprised about what has unfolded: “Government threatens to freeze their money in your bank >> people panic to take their money out of the bank so they can survive >> bank outages >> surprised Pikachu face.”
Some on the fringe said, “Take all your money out of banks. Buy gold silver crypto and ammo.”
Others posted memes about how Bitcoin prevents Trudeau from freezing your money.
Still, nothing conclusive points to what caused the banking outages last night though it just so happens it comes days after Trudeau invoked emergency orders to freeze bank accounts, forcing many folks to panic. The one thing a government cannot do is have citizens lose trust in the banking sector — otherwise, all hell breaks out.
“This is about following the money. This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades,” said Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at a press conference on Monday.
“We are today serving notice if your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen. The insurance on your vehicle will be suspended,” she continued, adding at another point in the conference that personal financial accounts would be included in the order.
The Gateway Pundit reported last night and provided evidence that she was an admirer of George Soros and her grandfather was a Nazi under Hitler. EXCLUSIVE: Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s Grandfather Was a Nazi and She Admires George Soros. It’s No Surprise She’s Labeling Freedom-Loving Canadians Terrorists
Now tonight reports coming on of Canada show that there is something is really going on with the banks.