OP-ED: Why does Ottawa want to put cash out of business?

Peter Shawn Taylor writes, "The lesson to be learned from the Freedom Convoy is that cash is a means to defend political freedom. And it seems Ottawa is thinking the same thing."

Source: Wikimedia Commons

By Peter Shawn Taylor

St-Viateur Bagels is Montreal’s oldest bagel shop. Local foodies, celebrities and international tourists all flock to its famous shop in the city’s Mile End neighbourhood for its holey creations. “This is an artisanal product – hand-made and baked in a wood-fired oven,” said co-owner Vince Morena proudly. But once inside, there’s only one way for those hungry customers to get their hands on a firm, chewy wood-fired bagel. As Morena explained, “it is cash only.”

Whatever he may think about his bagels, Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to permanently change how Morena runs his business – and how millions of Canadians buy things everyday.

Earlier this year the Liberal government introduced Bill C-2, its controversial Strong Borders Bill. Among its many contentious provisions is one that would make it illegal for any person, business, bank or charity to accept a “cash payment, donation or deposit of $10,000 or more”. Night drops, where businesses deposit their daily cash haul in a secure mail slot after banking hours, would also be prohibited. By banning cash transactions of this sort, Ottawa seems intent on making life as difficult as possible for businesses that deal in old-fashioned paper money.

“If we do $20,000 of business in cash over a weekend, I don’t think we should be treated like criminals,” Morena snapped. Adding to the aggravation is the fact these changes are entirely redundant. All cash deposits of $10,000 or more in Canada already face strict reporting requirements specifically meant to stop money laundering.

The full scope of Ottawa’s anti-cash plan goes far beyond inconveniencing small shops such as St-Viateur Bagel. If enough businesses give up on cash because of new government-imposed hassles, it will eventually become impossible for consumers to use paper money for any purchase throughout Canada. So why are the Liberals trying to put cash out of business?

There’s no denying the marketplace’s preference for credit cards and digital payment apps these days. Yet Ottawa’s anti-cash campaign overlooks the many ways in which paper money is crucial to a functional, fair and democratic society. These myriad benefits are detailed in the 2025 book The Power of Cash by Jay Zagorksy, a business professor at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

All forms of digital or plastic money, Zagorsky explained in an interview, require three things to work reliably: an uninterrupted electricity supply, a functional communications network and a secure payment system. Crises such as natural disasters or war can cause each to fail. “If you use your cellphone to pay for everything, what will you do when the power goes out?” he asked. Cash never breaks.

Paper money is also useful at the personal level, by limiting spending to whatever’s in your wallet. And it keeps prices down for both consumers and businesses. Asked why he only accepts cash at his bagel shop, Morena said “it all comes down to fees.” He pays an average 3 percent in fees on every non-cash sale he makes. “That money is going straight to the banks and credit card companies,” he groused.

Paper money is equally popular within progressive policy circles. An estimated 12 percent of Canadians do not have a credit card. Shut out of the modern payment world, these folks must rely on cash as a matter of survival. Victims of domestic abuse are often advised to build a secret stockpile of banknotes as an untraceable “getaway fund”, and many elderly people lack the desire or ability to figure out new-fangled apps.

Set against this broad range of benefits, Ottawa claims its attack on cash is necessary “to target organized crime and prevent money laundering”. Zagorsky devotes several chapters in his book to dismantling the notion that cash is the exclusive plaything of crooks, terrorists and tax cheats. “You don’t need cash to be a criminal,” he said. “If all the cash in the world magically disappeared one day, criminals would simply switch to other means.”

Paper money isn’t even a necessity for money launderers. The 2019 expert panel into money laundering in the B.C. real estate industry concluded that “bags of cash are not required to launder money.” Earlier this month, Canada’s anti-money laundering organization FinTRAC announced a record $176 million fine against a cryptocurrency dealer for failing to report thousands of transactions worth $10,000 or more in virtual currencies – the sort of activity that would in no way be impeded by a federal ban on large cash deposits.

All of which brings up the final and most important benefit to cash: as a bulwark against government overreach. “A cashless society gives government the power to shut down dissent quickly,” Zagorsky observed. “Once you eliminate cash, whatever government wants, government gets.” The main example of such dictatorial behaviour in his book is Ottawa’s dramatic response to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests. Once the Liberal government enacted the Emergencies Act and began freezing protesters’ bank accounts and credit cards, the protest ended almost overnight.

The lesson to be learned from the Freedom Convoy is that cash is a means to defend political freedom. And it seems Ottawa is thinking the same thing. We know it already has the power to shut down electronic and digital payments of all kinds. Banning substantial cash transactions closes the loop, putting the federal government in a position to shut down any future protest before it even starts.

Citizens in other countries have already grasped the political significance of cash. In Austria a recent petition signed by over half a million voters demanded that the right to use cash be enshrined in the country’s constitution. Switzerland is in the process of doing just that. Slovakia did the same thing in 2023.

“If you want to protect the interests of the common person, then we need to keep cash around,” Zagorsky stated. But simply hiding a stack of bills in your mattress isn’t sufficient. If cash is only kept for crises, then the financial and social infrastructure it requires to function will eventually wither away. It is therefore crucial not just to hold onto cash, but to spend it regularly. “Convince yourself and everyone you know to use cash at least once a week,” Zagorsky advised. “Buy something. Anything.” Your freedom may depend on it.

Peter Shawn Taylor is senior features editor at c2cjournal.ca , where the longer, original version of this story first appeared.