GiveSendGo alleges Canada has ‘no jurisdiction’ over truck convoy fundraising after Ontario government freezes access

The fundraising platform Ottawa's truck convoy is using to raise money has released a statement on its Facebook page addressing the Canadian government's involvement with trying to freeze the campaign.

According to the statement released by GiveSendGo on Thursday, February 10, the Christian crowdfunding and fundraising site said Canada has “absolutely zero jurisdiction” over how they manage their funds at the platform.

“All funds for every campaign on GiveSendGo flow directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy Campaign,” the statement reads.

The statement goes on to encourage continued donations to the demonstration.

However, the Ontario government announced on Thursday, February 10 that it had successfully petitioned a court to freeze access to the donated money.

“Today, the Attorney General brought an application in the Superior Court of Justice for an order pursuant to section 490.8 of the Criminal Code prohibiting any person from disposing of, or otherwise dealing with, in any manner whatsoever, any and all monetary donations made through the Freedom Convoy 2022 and Adopt-a-Trucker campaign pages on the GiveSendGo online fundraising platform,” Premier Doug Ford wrote, according to his spokeswoman, Ivana Yelich.

“This afternoon, the order was issued. It binds any and all parties with possession or control over these donations.”

The Freedom Convoy 2022 page has a fundraising goal is set at $16 million US, or about $20 million CAD, while the Adopt-a-Trucker campaign has raised $707,326 as of 10:45 a.m. Friday, February 11.

The convoy was able to raise about $9.8 million through GoFundMe, however, those assets were frozen, as well. All donations made through that platform were refunded after it pulled the fundraiser from its site on February 4.

Representatives from GoFundMe accepted a request to appear before the House of Commons to testify at the standing committee on public safety and national security on March 3.

– With files from CityNews Toronto