Conservative bill aims to ban central bank digital currency, protect cash

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The Conservative Party of Canada presented a bill that would ensure Canadians have “access to and use cash” forever and ban implementation of a “digital dollar.”

Introduced recently by Conservative MP Ted Falk, Bill C-276 is titled “An Act to establish a framework for the continued access to and use of cash in Canada and to make related amendments to other Acts.”

“The Minister must develop and implement a framework to ensure continued access to cash in Canada,” the bill reads.

The bill also calls to “protect the ability of persons, including businesses, in Canada to continue to use cash despite the availability of digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies.”

Bill C-276 mandates that the “long-term viability of Canada’s cash infrastructure” be kept in place.

The bill also calls for changes to Canada’s Currency Act so that any form of a digital “dollar” will be banned.

“The Bank shall not issue a digital form of the dollar,” the bill states.

Falk noted that the bill’s goal is to protect Canadians’ ability to use cash and to ban the Bank of Canada from issuing central bank digital currency (CBDC).

“Cash is freedom – it is private, reliable, and you don’t need an app or computer to use it,” Falk said. “Canadian customers should always have the option to use it.”

The bill will also mandate that there are no barriers to using cash for donations to charities, religious groups, and community organizations.

Falk called out CBDCs, saying, “Digital systems can fail, as we saw when the Rogers network disruption meant millions could not use their debit cards and access their money.”

“Cash is the fallback that always works.”

Falk also noted that it is “Parliament” and not “unelected institutions” that “must decide the future of our currency.”

“This bill ensures that any fundamental change to our financial system requires democratic approval,” he noted.

Because Falk’s bill is a private member’s one, it is unlikely it will become law. However, it does bring to light the fact that there are politicians in Canada opposed to CBDCs.

In 2024, the Bank of Canada found that Canadians are wary of a government-backed digital currency, concluding that a “significant number” of citizens would resist the implementation of such a system.

Indeed, a 2023 study found that most Canadians, about 85 percent, do not want a digital dollar, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.

Despite this, Canada’s central bank has been studying ways to introduce a CBDC for use for online retailers, according to a new report, despite the fact that recent research suggests Canadians are reluctant to use any type of digital dollar.

Digital currencies have been touted as the future by some government officials, but, as LifeSiteNews has reported, many experts warn that such technology would restrict freedom and could be used as a “control tool” against citizens similar to China’s pervasive social credit system.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has promised that, should he ever form the government, he would oppose the creation of a digital dollar.

Contrast this to Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, who a history of supporting central bank digital currencies and in 2022 backed “choking off the money” donated to the Freedom Convoy protests against COVID mandates.