The co-founders of Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo railed against a supposed lack of communication from Canadian authorities on the protest that took over downtown Ottawa for nearly a month, saying they don’t conduct “litmus tests” for those wanting to use their site.
Speaking to the public safety committee, the site’s co-founder siblings Heather Wilson and Jacob Wells sparred with MPs of all stripes who questioned the company’s role in hosting a fundraiser for the occupation.
NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, whose motion launched the committee’s study, noted the platform took to Twitter on February 10 to write that “Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds,” vowing that money raised on its platform for each campaign flows “directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy campaign.”
That same day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office said it successfully petitioned the Superior Court to freeze access to funds donated through the site to demonstrators. The order barred anyone from distributing donations made through its “Freedom Convoy 2022” and “Adopt-a-Trucker” pages, which had amassed more than US $9 million combined at that time.
“We heard about it on social media,” quipped Wilson about the court order. “I can find out about aliens on social media as well.”
