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Dozens of donors from South Cariboo support ‘Freedom Convoy’

About C$7,400 raised from donors with local postal codes
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Supporters of the Freedom Convoy turned out for a recent Slow Roll protest and demonstration along Highway 97. Roughly 200 people lined the highway waving Canadian flags and carrying signs calling for an end to vaccine mandates while 100 trucks and cars through town, honking their horns the entire way. (Patrick Davies photo - 100 Mile Free Press)

Dozens of South Cariboo residents contributed thousands of dollars to the online “Freedom Convoy 2022” fundraiser, according to donor information leaked online this week.

A list of names, postal codes, email addresses and donation amounts for funds contributed to the GiveSendGo fundraising platform was made public Sunday night, following what the website described as a “broadcasted breach.”

Forty-five of the nearly 93,000 entries on the donor list had South Cariboo postal codes, and accounted for US$5,858 (about C$7,400) of the nearly US$8 million reportedly collected.

Local donations ranged from $10 to $785 and came from donors with listed addresses in Clinton, 70 Mile, Lone Butte, 100 Mile House, Forest Grove and 108 Mile Ranch. The area accounts for a population of about 15,000 residents.

More than half the donations listed originated from the United States, with the largest contribution - US$90,000 - coming from a California address. The largest Canadian donation was for $75,000, attributed to Easy Kleen Pressure Systems in New Brunswick.

Many of the listings also included comments in support of the protest. One donor with a Lone Butte address, who contributed $150, wrote “Go truckers, Go Canada, I feel proud to be a Canadian again.”

READ MORE: Hundreds support Freedom Convoy in 100 Mile

Another donor with a 100 Mile House postal code quoted George Orwell, writing “If there was hope, it would lie with proles,” before adding “The Son of God and his disciples were a fringe minority with unacceptable views.”

Locally, protesters have been gathering weekly at the South Cariboo Visitor Centre to show support for the protests in Ottawa, which started at the end of January and call for the end to all COVID-19 mandates.

GiveSendGo, a self-proclaimed Christian Fundraising platform, became the go-to site for donations after GoFundMe removed the initial fundraiser that had raised more than $10 million, citing violence and unlawful activity.

GiveSendGo addressed the data breach in a social media post Tuesday morning, saying the platform was “attacked by malicious actors attempting to eliminate the ability of its users to raise funds.”

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday invoked the National Emergencies Act to end the anti-government blockades he describes as illegal.

The government will use the act to force towing companies to remove big rigs and other vehicles that are blocking highways and other critical infrastructure, establish zones where public assembly is not allowed, and require banks to suspend or freeze accounts suspected of supporting the blockades, including those belonging to companies whose trucks are part of the convoy.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is “serving notice” to trucking companies with vehicles involved in any of the blockades that they will have their corporate accounts frozen and lose their insurance.



melissa.smalley@100milefreepress.net

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