"The federal government froze the bank accounts (in February 2022) of hundreds of Canadians who had not broken any law or committed any crime. These Canadian citizens were punished by the state for having donated money to a peaceful protest movement that was hated by the prime minister of the day. They had no opportunity to challenge, dispute, or appeal the severe penalty which government imposed on them without warning. Cash alone made it possible for these victimized Canadians to buy groceries, pay their heating bills in winter, and secure other necessities."
"Through its work on a digital Canadian dollar, the Bank of Canada aims to ensure that Canadians will continue to have the benefits of money issued by the central bank in an increasingly digitalized world. Whether and when a digital dollar will become needed is uncertain. Ultimately, the decision to go ahead with a digital dollar belongs to Canadians, through their representatives in Parliament."
"Most Canadians we heard from placed high importance on having access to bank notes as currency backed by the central bank. This was because of their wide acceptance, universal availability and transactional privacy. To ensure greater access to bank notes in the future, most respondents indicated that they would support imposing requirements on merchants to accept bank notes as a form of payment. Civil society groups noted that improving consumer access to, and merchant acceptance of, cash would help prevent marginalized Canadians from being further excluded from the economy."
Customers will have to drive at least 40 kilometres to visit the nearest bank.
According to
Policy Horizons Canada, "Biodigital convergence could rapidly advance targeted treatments, and precision medicine based on genomic profiles - leading to improved and targeted preventive care. The pharmaceutical industry may explore the manipulation of living organisms' DNA as treatment. DNA databases could become a strategic asset and input for the development of new drugs and therapies."