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Ottawa Mayor Thanks GoFundMe for Seizing $8 Million in Donations Meant for Freedom Convoy Protestors
Vision Times ^ | February 6, 2022 | Leo Timm

Posted on 02/09/2022 3:07:42 PM PST by nickcarraway

The mayor of Canada’s capital, Jim Watson, has publicly thanked crowdfunding site GoFundMe for withholding CAD$10 million donated in support of the Freedom Convoy demonstration currently in Ottawa.

“I want to sincerely thank the team at @gofundme for listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers,” Watson wrote in a Feb. 4 tweet.

Despite the Freedom Convoy being organized around the trucking profession, Canadian authorities and mainstream mass media have accused the movement — which according to some estimates has gathered tens of thousands of participants — of being a violent and white supremacist “occupation,” rather than a legitimate exercise of public assembly.

The Freedom Convoy, which began as a protest against the Canadian federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for truckers crossing the border to the U.S., snowballed into a much larger movement, with thousands of vehicles descending on Ottawa at the end of January.

GoFundMe earlier allowed CAD$1 million to be provided to the protesters, which translated into supplies and food. But on Feb. 4, the crowdfunding site froze CAD$10 million (about US$8 million) and said the money would be redirected to “established charities verified by GoFundMe.”

“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform,” the GoFundMe site says.

Curbing public assembly

Many trucks and other vehicles remained parked around Parliament Hill, the seat of Canadian government, as the protest entered its second week. The protesters and organizers say they will stay until the government lifts its pandemic restrictions.

Mayor Watson applauded GoFundMe’s decision as a means of dispersing the protests. “I’m hopeful that limiting their access to … funding and resources will restrict their ability to remain in Ottawa,” he said in the Feb. 4 tweet.

canada-ottawa_freedom-convoy-parliament-hill-police_GettyImages-1238222876 Police march towards Wellington Street on February 5, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada. (Image: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) While the authorities and media have accused the Freedom Convoy of violence and disorder, such claims are contradicted by Canadian police officers, locals, and observers.

One incident that saw some truckers enter a homeless shelter and take plates without permission ended with the movement organizers providing cooked food for the homeless.

Despite a few arrests made since the protesters arrived in Ottawa, police reports of crime have in fact decreased, according to Blackrock’s Reporter, while police have noted no injuries or riots in connection with the Freedom Convoy.

Daniel Bulford, a retired officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said at a Feb. 3 press conference that he had “very reliable information” that the several violent incidents were “not associated” with the movement.

“It’s a constitutional freedom to protest peacefully,” John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), told The Epoch Times.

Carpay, whose organization is providing legal representation for the Convoy organizers, said that there is no evidence linking the movement to violence or criminal activity. “I would like to see what evidence there is,” he said. “That’s political spin.”

“They’re not obstructing the daily lives of people in Ottawa, and they’re committed to peace and non-violence,” he said.

Supporters of the Convoy are now using alternate means to get money to the truckers in Ottawa, with hundreds of thousands raised in the hours following the GoFundMe ban.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: canada; convoy; gofundme; jimwatson; ottawa; protest; truckers
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To: nickcarraway

21 posted on 02/09/2022 3:36:35 PM PST by skimbell
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To: Ezekiel

Mayor is ‘gay”....came out in 2019.


22 posted on 02/09/2022 3:39:50 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: Jeff Chandler

Ottawa’s ‘GAY’ Mayor should have been in the headline.


23 posted on 02/09/2022 3:42:04 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: rusureitflies?
But the Ottawa "Gay Mayor" has no problem PROTESTING in Ottawa's streets for HIS GAY Rights".....

Hypocrisy runs so thick with those people!


24 posted on 02/09/2022 3:46:44 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: Ezekiel

Another face that proves to me that he was shoved into a locker for being a geek smart-ass.

They HATE fun. Of any kind.


25 posted on 02/09/2022 3:49:12 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!!! 🇺🇸 🇨🇦)
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To: nickcarraway

The Mayor and Police just ADMITTED they Conspired to Commit Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud, Money Laundering with gof&^dme

Is the JustUs dept here in the USA Investigating and Preparing Criminal Charges


26 posted on 02/09/2022 3:49:49 PM PST by eyeamok (founded in cynicism, wrapped in sarcasm)
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To: Ezekiel
But it's ask for this same 'Gay" mayor to block the streets

with his gay rights parade shouting from his float.


27 posted on 02/09/2022 3:51:53 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: janetjanet998

8 USD . That 10 million Canadian. Awesome.


28 posted on 02/09/2022 3:58:32 PM PST by Donnafrflorida (Thru Him all things are possible.)
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To: caww; RushIsMyTeddyBear

Yikes, apparently some kinds of fun carnivals are more equal than others.


29 posted on 02/09/2022 3:58:58 PM PST by Ezekiel ("Come fly with US". Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with Mars.)
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To: Ceebass

Took me 2 days. I sent 100 a few days ago. Site was really slow or being attacked.


30 posted on 02/09/2022 4:00:22 PM PST by Donnafrflorida (Thru Him all things are possible.)
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To: Ezekiel

They brought those in to give kids something to do.


31 posted on 02/09/2022 4:07:38 PM PST by caww ( )
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To: nickcarraway

No more donations from me, thank you very much.


32 posted on 02/09/2022 4:09:09 PM PST by chopperk
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To: nickcarraway

Homo pervert...


33 posted on 02/09/2022 4:23:25 PM PST by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie. )
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To: chopperk
"No more donations from me, thank you very much."

Thanks for your two cents Jeb!

34 posted on 02/09/2022 4:25:55 PM PST by WMarshal ("No war for communism"I doubt they're smart enough to make the connection)
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To: dearolddad

GFM needs to be prosecuted for not giving the full refund. They were trusted to do their part and they did not deliver. I hope their arses get sued for those amounts and for punitive damages.

They should not be able to keep any of those donations.
Sue the hell out of them.


35 posted on 02/09/2022 4:34:59 PM PST by dforest (Freaking insane world. )
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To: dearolddad

I received my “refund” from gofu*kme. It was minus about 10%
/\

Thank you for posting this.

I’ve been asking on threads if anyone actually got their money back.

So, they got roughly 10 million, and if they kept ten % from everyones refund,,

then they pocketed a cool million.

That makes it grand larceny no ?


36 posted on 02/09/2022 4:45:54 PM PST by cuz1961 (USCGR Veteran )
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To: nickcarraway

The lawyers will be lined up like semis!


37 posted on 02/09/2022 7:51:47 PM PST by Delta 21 (It started as a virus, and mutated into an IQ test.)
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To: dearolddad

What a racket!


38 posted on 02/09/2022 7:53:28 PM PST by Delta 21 (It started as a virus, and mutated into an IQ test.)
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To: Ezekiel
Keep it up! I think its working!


39 posted on 02/09/2022 8:12:25 PM PST by Delta 21 (It started as a virus, and mutated into an IQ test.)
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To: dearolddad

Chargeback for the rest.


40 posted on 02/09/2022 8:12:52 PM PST by perfect_rovian_storm
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