Ottawa Police Pushed GoFundMe To Shut Down Funding For Canadian Truckers

The Ottawa Police has essentially admitted to encouraging GoFundMe to shut down funding for the Canadian Freedom Convoy protests that are taking place in Ottawa.

Ottawa Police tweeted the following after the announcement from GoFundMe.

https://twitter.com/OttawaPolice/status/1489754844097392640

GoFundMe stated the following about its decision to shut down the fundraiser:

"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

Jim Watson, the Mayor of Ottawa, also thanked GoFundMe for taking money away from the truckers. "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," he said Friday, going on to state,

"In light of the unlawful behaviour that has transpired in the last few days, they have come to the right decision in support of our city and our residents."

Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa

The GoFundMe fundraiser had raised more than $10 million for the truckers who need to cover their food, lodging and fuel expenses. The amount of money raised in such a short period of time was historical, and one of the biggest GoFundMe campaigns in history.

Shortly after being shut down, another campaign was initiated with a new platform called Give Send Go. More than $1 million has been raised so far. The goal is $16 million.

Discussion

Based on our team's experience on the ground, many police personnel seem to support the protests and emphasize how peaceful it has actually been. Consistent statements from the Ottawa Police about danger, violence and a chance of riotous behaviour does not represent reality nor all police officers, many of whom across Canada have opposed vaccine mandates.

Many feel that the decision made by GoFundMe to shut down the fundraiser was made based on Police lobbying and legacy media misrepresentation of the protests. You can stay up to date with our coverage on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Telegram.

Media deception has been further exaggerated by multiple Canadian politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has falsely been labelling this protest as one of a "fringe minority" of "racist and misogynistic" extremists. Anybody who has been on the ground will tell you this is clearly not the case.

Furthermore, a new poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute shows that the majority (54%) of Canadians now say they want all COVID restrictions to end.

This protest is comprised of many vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Here's a great illustration indicative of legacy media and how they are portraying the protests.

As with any protest, you're going to have small differences. Whether or not the few individuals who were filmed with hateful flags during the protest were government plants is besides the point. Our team has been there the whole time and have not been able to spot these people, and when they did make an appearance they are clearly not welcome and did not stay long.

Despite these facts, people who watch mainstream media as their only source of information have literally been misled into believing there is violence, hatred and pure racism in downtown Ottawa. Yet these protests are a peaceful gathering of people coming together. Are they disruptive? Sure, they are noisy and stopping some aspect of normalcy down there, but that is the point.

Throughout this pandemic government and big media has mis-portrayed basic COVID facts. They have also censored, ridiculed and silenced citizens, scientists and doctors who oppose and present evidence that calls into question actions governments have taken to combat COVID. This is why so many people seem to be completely unaware about basic COVID facts.

If there’s one thing the organizers of this convoy, and Canadians in general, are advocating for, it’s to remain peaceful. There is, in my opinion, no extremist element to this protest and if one happens to pop up, it is not unreasonable to question whether the Canadian government drummed it up themselves. This could still happen within the coming days.

Hopefully the tens of thousands on the ground can somehow identify these “extremists,” if they do happen to show up, and do something to accurately capture the situation.

Nonetheless, this is one of the most hopeful times in Canada over the last two years.