Christian-based organization protest as court freezes COVID-19 protesters’ access to funds

Christian-based GiveSendGo has protested against a court order which granted the Ontario provincial government’s request to freeze access to millions raised for the Freedom Convoy truckers protesting against COVID-19 mandates.

An Ontario court on Thursday granted the provincial government’s request to freeze access to millions raised for the Freedom Convoy truckers.

After having a $10 million GoFundMe page axed last week, the Freedom Convoy truckers protesting COVID measures in Ottawa have now had another $8 million raised on Christian-based crowdfunding site GiveSendGo frozen, this time via an order from Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.

The convoy began as a protest to U.S. and Canadian rules requiring that cross-border truckers be fully vaccinated to enter both countries.

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However, GiveSendGo responded Thursday night with a statement that said, “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. Thanks for your concern but this recipient is receiving funds.”

According to a statement by Premier Doug Ford’s office on Thursday, Attorney General Doug Downey brought the application for the order under section 490.8 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which allows for “a restraint order in respect of any offence-related property.”

Ivana Yelich, spokesperson for the premier, explained that the order from the court “binds any and all parties with possession or control over these donations,” including the “Freedom Convoy 2022” fundraising page and the “Adopt-a-Trucker” fundraising page.

Since the Freedom Convoy arrived in Ottawa nearly two weeks ago, Ford, who leads the province of Ontario as a “conservative,” has denounced the group and insisted the protesters need to leave and “let the people of Ottawa live their lives.”

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Ford’s statements claiming that the protesters are impeding the lives of citizens and their businesses drew criticism as Ford himself has forcibly shut down Ontario businesses for weeks at a time through continuous lockdowns.

Moreover, Ford has consistently used the heavy hand of government on law-abiding citizens during the “pandemic” by imposing draconian measures such as vaccine passports, capacity limits on gatherings in private homes, mandatory mask wearing indoors, and social distancing.

While Ford and his government remain steadfast in keeping so-called COVID measures in place — and are now going as far as freezing the funds of those who protest their actions — the Freedom Convoy pressure has led to massive and rapid changes in the Canadian political sphere.

Since the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa nearly two weeks ago, the federal Conservative Party has ousted their pro-mandate leader and taken a decidedly anti-mandate stance. Meanwhile, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have both started to remove all COVID restrictions, and even the highly authoritarian province of Quebec decided to drop its controversial plan to tax the vaccine-free.