Justin Trudeau is the current Prime Minister of Canada and 23rd leader of the Liberal Party. Born in Ottawa on December 25, 1971, he is the eldest son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who served as Prime Minister from 1968 to 1984. He was elected in 2015 with a majority government and re-elected in 2019.
Trudeau’s government has had an active role in cryptocurrency regulation over recent years. In 2017, he appointed Bill Morneau as Finance Minister with a mandate to develop regulatory frameworks for digital currency transactions across Canada. The following year saw the launch of Project Jasper – a joint venture between Payments Canada, R3 (a blockchain consortium) and five Canadian banks that sought to explore how blockchain technology could be used by financial institutions operating within Canada’s payments system. In 2020 his government announced plans to introduce legislation that would require cryptocurrency exchanges operating within Canada to register with FINTRAC – Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre – so they can report suspicious activities such as money laundering or terrorist financing.
At present there are no specific regulations governing cryptocurrencies at a federal level however it is expected that further measures will be implemented during 2021/2022 under Justin Trudeau’s leadership including potential taxation policies for any profits gained through trading cryptocurrencies and new rules regarding Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).
