The Twittersphere sometimes reveals decisions that escape the radar of traditional media. This is the case of a disturbing provision included in Bill 54, adopted in March 2024. In section 18, a new clause stipulates that any amount of $2,000 or more, whose origin does not fit with the practices of financial institutions, is presumed to be the product of illegal activities.
This presumption therefore places any citizen carrying $2,000 or more in a situation where he must justify his integrity, even in the absence of any other evidence suggesting the commission of an offence. A reversal of the burden of proof that sends shivers down the spine.
More severe than customs
You can cross the Canadian border with up to $10,000 in your pocket without having to justify its origin, but on the roads of Quebec, carrying $2,500 could be enough to arouse suspicion in the eyes of the law.
There are a thousand legitimate reasons to carry such a sum: a trip, the purchase or sale of a second-hand item, a wedding gift. All perfectly normal reasons, which should in no way raise the slightest suspicion of criminality.
It should be stressed that the same law provides for logical and justified measures in cases where money is found near drugs or equipment used for their production or trafficking. But the provision concerning the simple possession of cash casts a dangerous blur on the very notion of the presumption of innocence.
Presumption of innocence in the trash
This provision, under the guise of efficiency, threatens to lead to a serious deviation: that of penalizing the act of carrying cash. Are we ready to accept that an ordinary citizen is treated as a criminal simply for having in his possession a regular sum of money? This presumption, in addition to weakening our fundamental rights, betrays a dangerous mistrust of the population itself.
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