Province of Ontario freezes donations to Freedom Convoy

By: Thomas I. Likness
Eagle News Service

(Eagle News) — The Freedom Convoy protest in Canada has run into another problem with its online fundraising.

The Ontario government received a court order Thursday prohibiting anyone from distributing money donated to the online fundraiser GiveSendGo.

After being dropped by GoFundMe a week ago, protest organizers turned to GiveSendGo.

In just a week, they raised more than CA$10 million.

This is the second time fundraising efforts for the protesters have been stalled.

GoFundMe pulled the plug on the protest saying it had become an illegal occupation.

“We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity,” GoFundMe said at the time. “This fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service.

It then set up a mechanism to return the money to donors.

That’s not likely to happen this time.

In a tweet following the court order GiveSendGo indicates it will ignore the order.

“Know this! Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds here at GiveSendGo,” the organization said on Twitter. “All funds for EVERY campaign on GiveSendGo flow directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy campaign.”

Organizers have also suggested donors could send money in Bitcoin.

There is concern about the massive amount of money that has flowed in from the United States. Some fear it comes from far-right extremists who are trying to spread their message in Canada.
(Eagle News Service)