Ontario judge freezes millions from Freedom Convoy and Adopt-a-Trucker
The Ontario government is freezing access to millions of dollars of Freedom Convoy cash through the Christian fundraising sight GiveSendGo.
Premier Doug Ford’s office said Thursday that Attorney General Doug Downey had brought the application forward, under Section 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.”
Both the Freedom Convoy and Adopt-a-Trucker switched to fundraising through GiveSendGo after GoFundMe closed off access to $10 million in donations earlier this month.
The fundraising site GiveSendGo has been linked to several far-right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, who are listed as a “terrorist entity” by Canada’s counter-terrorism arm. GiveSendGo was also the funding arm behind the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol building.
Wakefield resident Bethan Nodwell, and former head nurse at the Wakefield Hospital, is a main organizer with Adopt-a-Trucker – the organization responsible for coordinating supplies to the truckers holding the line on the Hill.
The well-known Wakefielder Nodwell has become a controversial figure in the Hills, as she continues to post anti-vax sentiments views online and claims that masks don’t work. Nodwell has posted support for QAnon online, an American far-right political conspiracy theory, mass political movement, and cult.
Nodwell has been running the main stage at the Freedom Convoy downtown and posted a warning to Ottawa residents on social media Jan. 23 - six days before big rigs rolled onto Parliament Hill - telling them to “prepare to hunker down or run out of town.”
At the time of the assets being frozen, Adopt-a-Trucker had raised $720,530 while “Freedom Convoy 2022” had raised $US 8.4 million.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared a province-wide state of emergency due to the ongoing protests in Ottawa and at border crossing throughout the province.