On Day 19 of the Truckers for Freedom Convoy, Doug Ford froze the convoy’s access to their GiveSendGo fundraiser while truckers at the Ambassador Bridge maintained their ongoing blockade.
On Thursday, a statement released by the Ontario premier’s office confirmed that the Attorney General had brought an application to the Ontario Superior Court “prohibiting anyone from disposing of, or otherwise dealing with, in any manner whatsoever, any and all monetary donations made through the Freedom Convoy 2022 and the Adopt-a-Trucker campaign pages on the Givesendgo online fundraising platform.”
The statement went on to confirm that the order “had been issued binding any and all parties with possession of or control of the donations.”
In response, Givesendgo publicly stated that it would ignore the Ontario government’s order.
Posting on Twitter, the Christian crowdfunding site declared, “Know this! Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds here at GiveSendGo. All funds for EVERY campaign on GiveSendGo flow directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy campaign.”
According to CBC Queen’s Park bureau chief Mike Crawley, the Ontario government was able to get the court order because they presented evidence that the funds were being used for ‘‘offence-related property’, used or intended to be used in connection with the commission of an indictable offence.”
Free-speech social media platform Gab defended GiveSendGo’s decision to publicly flout Ontario’s court order, saying “GiveSendGo is an American company, who cares about Leaf Laws LOL”
Meanwhile, the ongoing blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario has become the new focus of the coverage of Canada’s trucker protests.
The standoff between authorities and the truckers camped out on the bridge is causing headaches on both sides of the border.
A White House official told CNN earlier today, “We know that a number of companies and industries are seeing significant impacts from these disruptions.”
“The Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Council, Department of Transportation and the National Economic Council are working collaboratively – including with their Canadian counterparts at all levels – to rapidly develop a set of options that match current industry demands – including alternative routes and other scenario planning,” the official said to CNN.
Back on the Canadian side of the border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a virtual meeting with opposition leaders, calling on all parties to denounce the blockade in Windsor.
Trudeau said on Twitter, “This evening, I had several meetings that were focused on the illegal blockades and occupations happening across the country. They’re harming the communities they’re taking place in – and they’re hurting jobs, businesses, and our country’s economy.”
He then called on all Members of Parliament to condemn the “illegal blockades”.
“Finally, I briefed the leaders of the opposition parties on the current situation and the latest developments. I stressed how important it is for all Members of Parliament, from every party, to denounce these illegal acts – and to call for an end to these blockades,” Trudeau tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen asked Trudeau several times if he would support a Conservative motion to end the mandates and meet with her party to end the blockade.
Trudeau’s answers addressed none of the specific questions Bergen asked him.
The GiveSendGo in support of the truckers at the time this article was published had reached USD $8,582,377.
