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On Tuesday, Justin Trudeau’s Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino stated that the Canadian government intends to target any American who may have donated to the Freedom Convoy protest effort.
The grassroots movement raised $10 million dollars until GoFundMe took down the page and announced their plans to distribute the funds to left-wing causes. GoFundMe later backed down and refunded the donations after intense backlash.
“There have been numerous instances of intimidation, harassment, violence and hate,” Mendicino said without evidence. “Many residents have been effectively held hostage in their own city, blockaded by an angry, loud, intolerant and violent crowd,” he continued.
Mendicino added that the convoy has “crossed the line of acceptable conduct,” and praised the Ottawa Police Service.
Following his baseless claims regarding the convoy’s conduct — which has been overwhelmingly peaceful — Minister Mendicino shifted his focus to donors who have supported the convoy, saying that Canada has a “robust” intelligence community that will flag all concerns of national security, as well as a separate branch within the RCMP with the same function.
“That’s why I’m certainly confident that wherever there’s foul play of the sort, that we’ll be in a position to act appropriately,” said Mendicino. “If, for example, someone was contributing with the intent of either causing public harm or trying to undermine public safety, that would be something that would be against the law, and there would be appropriate sanctions for that, if proven in the court of law,” he said.
MPs on the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee have called GoFundMe to testify about the funds raised.
“Important questions remain about how such a huge sum of money could be raised by anonymous donors and what their motivations were. People are rightly worried about American interference and what sort of standard is applied when donations are accepted,” reads a statement from the NDP’s public safety critic Alistair MacGregor.
It is unclear how the Canadian government would go about such investigations or whether the Biden Administration would assist them.
Ottawa’s Freedom Convoy protests entered their 12th day on Monday. Several Canadian officials — including Justin Trudeau — have referred to the overwhelmingly peaceful protests as an “occupation” while baselessly tying them to “hate” groups.
Ottawa’s Freedom Convoy protests entered their 12th day on Monday. Several Canadian officials — including Justin Trudeau — have referred to the overwhelmingly peaceful protests as an “occupation” while baselessly tying them to “hate” groups.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has vowed to crush the protests with a “surge and contain” strategy while police have been confiscating food and other supplies intended for the protesters.
Here are the strategies that the fuzz are rolling out, according to the Ottawa Police Service statement:
“Major deployment of police officers in the downtown neighborhoods: There will be approximately 150 additional uniformed and non-uniformed officers dedicated to only patrolling and addressing unlawful and threatening conduct in the most impacted neighborhoods including: Centretown, Sandy Hill, Lowertown and the ByWard Market. This includes working with City and NCR officials to prevent unlawful and unsafe use of public space by demonstrators.
Expand and harden perimeter of the demonstration red zone: The Ottawa Police Service and City of Ottawa will be utilizing concrete and heavy equipment barricades to create no-access roadways throughout the downtown core. The City of Ottawa will be releasing a map of impacted roads later today. Protestor vehicles will be directed to designated parking zones outside of the downtown core. Illegal parking by demonstrators will result in by-law enforcement, removal and impound. If necessary, interprovincial bridges, highway off ramps and/or roads will be closed.
Enforcement directives: The surge of police officers will result in enforcement to restore public safety. This includes increased investigation enforcement and charges for all criminal acts related hate, harassment, assaults (including spitting), intimidation, and mischief.
Enhanced intelligence operations and investigations: National, provincial and local intelligence agencies have increased efforts to identify and target protestors who are funding/supporting/enabling unlawful and harmful activity by protestors. Investigative evidence-gathering teams are collecting financial, digital, vehicle registration, driver identification, insurance status, and other related evidence that will be used in criminal prosecutions. Every unlawful act, including traffic violations, will be fully pursued regardless of origin.
The primary focus of each of these measures will be on the unlawful behavior connected to the ongoing demonstrations (including parallel and counter demonstrations).”
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