The federal allegations that free convoys are mostly foreign-funded were challenged Thursday when the U.S. Congressional Committee met to consider financing behind a week-long cross-country protest. ..
The Public Safety Commission meeting said that some MPs would accept the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, first to implement convoy fundraising, and then GiveSendGo would pursue it to this day despite legal action. I was often nervous because of my criticism.
The government claims that the truck driver-led movement against the COVID-19 restriction was a “mostly foreign-funded, targeted, coordinated attack” on Canadian democracy. Explained Emergency Reserve Minister Bill Blair was inconsistent with the numbers shared by GoFundMe’s president.
“According to our records, 88% of the donated funds came from Canada and 86% of the donors came from Canada,” said Juan Benitez.
Benitez also said his company had the ability to detect fraudulent activities related to donations, but that wasn’t important in the convoy campaign.
“In this campaign, as part of our normal filtering activity, we flagged behaviors that the tool considered unacceptable and removed some donations,” he said.
The Freedom Convoy was started by truck drivers as Canada imposed vaccination obligations for cross-border travel in mid-January, leading to a three-week occupation of downtown Ottawa, two after the federal government. It was dismantled on the weekend of 19th to 20th of March. The government enacted an emergency law on February 14.
Fundraising has been cancelled
GoFundMe released $ 1 million in funding to the convoy organizers before stopping the campaign on February 4. Raised Over $ 10 million.
Benitez said his company was proactive in contacting local governments based on official media and social media statements, rather than being contacted by the federal government or local governments regarding convoy fundraising. rice field.
“Based on that, we started contacting them directly to be fully informed of the facts and circumstances of the scene and the real-time information being developed around the Freedom Convoy,” Benitez said. I did.
On January 31, three days after the convoy settled in downtown Ottawa, Mayor Jim Watson considered the possibility of using the funds his staff raised at GoFundMe to pay for crackdowns on protests. He said he was doing it.
On February 7, then-Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly insisted on his efforts, and the city’s efforts led to the cancellation of the GoFundMe fundraiser on February 4.
When GoFundMe was asked about what exactly was shared by the city of Ottawa and its police, the company’s legal adviser Kim Wilford reported to her company that she had no contact with law enforcement agencies herself. “There was violence, damage and destruction, and harassment was happening.”
In light of this testimony, Conservative Rep. Doug Shipley wondered when Ottawa police could testify to find more information on these allegations.
Shipley said he and his staff had never been provided with this kind of information about these dangers, and he and his staff were walking past the protests to work.
“In any of these reports, we found nowhere to share violence, threatening behavior, damage and destruction,” he said.
‘Diligence’
Some members of the Commission were upset by the fact that GoFundMe allowed GoFundMe to raise funds first because of the views and objectives of some participants shared on social media.
Liberal Party lawmaker Tlaib Noormohamed wondered how GoFundMe could establish a fundraiser after being pointed out that “the organizers were associated with the Yellow Vest movement, the anti-Islamic Clarion Project.” thought.
“Did you know that the organizers were previously associated with organizations and movements that promoted all kinds of hatred, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination and intolerance related to race, ethnicity, country of origin, religious affiliation, etc. Did you allow the person to set up a GoFundMe campaign? “He asked.
The Yellow Vest movement was a few years ago against free government policies such as the carbon tax, and the Clarion Project’s mission is to “educate the public about the threat of radical Islam and other radical ideologies.” It is said that.
“There was nothing to suggest that there was a problem with the diligence I did to the organizers of the campaign,” Wilford replied. “The speed of donations drew our attention to the campaign.”
Wilford said he was proud of how they handled the campaign.
GiveSendGo
With the self-proclaimed Christian platform GiveSendGo, launched after the shutdown of GoFundMe, the money raised by other campaigns is still active, reaching over $ 12 million.
Jacob Wells, co-founder of GiveSendGo, told the Commission that about 60% of the donations on the platform came from Canada and 37% from the United States.
Ontario court frozen Wells said there is ongoing debate about what will be done with the funds, with the main purpose of legally sending the funds to the recipients. If that is not possible, the donation will be refunded.
Wells and other co-founder his sister Heather Wilson was given a much tougher ride than GoFundMe by liberals, blocks, and NDP MPs who questioned the ethics and legality of their behavior. ..
MP kept the funding after GoFundMe canceled the funding that stated it was a breach of terms of service, after the city of Ottawa and the province of Ontario declared an emergency, and after the decision of the Ontario court. I asked why.
NDP MP Alistair MacGregor asked GiveSendGo if co-founders feel it is important to comply with and respect Canadian law, which they answered “yes.”
MacGregor has issued a statement Post According to GiveSendGo on Twitter on February 10, “Canada has completely zero jurisdiction over how to manage funds at GiveSendGo.”
“How does your statement on Twitter match what you just said to this committee?” McGregor asked.
“I would like to say that the Government of Canada has issued all these statements, but if there are concerns about GiveSendGo and what we allow, I don’t know why it wasn’t contacted us.” Wilson said.
Fairness is questioned
The impartiality of GiveSendGo as a neutral platform was also questioned by MacGregor, who quoted an Ottawa police officer’s affidavit used by Ontario courts to freeze the fundraising of GiveSendGo’s escort fleet. .. The affidavit states that “GiveSend Go does not seem to be a fair provider.”
“You’ve defended GoFundMe, which means you’re involved in the game because you’ve got GoFundMe doing exactly what you wanted,” Wilson told Mac Gregor. ..
There was another fierce exchange, with Liberal lawmakers accusing GiveSend Go of supporting their government, the Proud Boys Group. exclusive As a listed terrorist organization in February 2021, despite the fact that the group has not committed terrorist acts.
Proud Boys described himself as a “Western showvinist” and was accused by critics of being a white supremacist, and Canada’s listing involved a breach of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Followed by. .. Prior to January 6, Proud Boys was largely known for entering the United States. Street fight With the far left radicals.
“Therefore, Proud Boys can continue to raise money on the platform and there is no problem raising the Ku Klux Klan,” said Pamdamov of Liberal MP.
“When an individual or organization that is legally permitted to receive payment passes through the KYC [know your client] Checks and AML [anti-money laundering] Yes, we allow funding if everyone is needed and implemented through our platform, passed all those steps, and the funding is legal. ” Wells said.
“The group we are talking about is a hate group. Groups that promote Islamophobia, groups like Proud Boys, groups like the Ku Klux Klan have no place in our society. Sorry, this Are there any anti-hatred clauses in the Terms of Service for all such legal issues? “Damov said.
“We have a lot of terms [of service] … It guides us in how we operate as a business and as an organization, and we fully believe that the danger of suppressing speech is far more dangerous than the speech itself. ” Wells replied.
“My Christian brand is very different from your brand if it contains hatred,” Damov said when the meeting was postponed.
follow
Noé Charter is a Montreal-based Epoch Times reporter.