A person holds their hand to their heart during a singing of O Canada during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. A parliamentary committee is hearing today from representatives of two crowdfunding platforms organizers used to raise money for a weeks-long protests in downtown Ottawa. (Canadian Press image)

By Brian Konrad

GoFundMe president tells MPs that freedom convoy fundraiser was ‘unique’

Mar 3, 2022 | 11:09 AM

OTTAWA — The president of GoFundMe is defending how the crowdfunding platform handled a campaign that raised millions of dollars for protesters who spent weeks blockading streets and sidewalks in the national capital.

Juan Benitez, alongside a lawyer for the company, appeared Thursday before the House of Commons public safety committee, which is studying the relationship between crowdfunding platforms and extremism financing.

MPs questioned Benitez on how the platform responded to a fundraiser organized by Tamara Lich that generated more than $10 million for the so-called freedom convoy, which saw protesters in big rigs refuse to leave downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks.

Benitez testified GoFundMe began monitoring the campaign in mid-January after it became popular and initially determined that it fell within its terms and conditions of service.

The committee heard that on Jan. 27, nearly two weeks after the fundraiser began, the site released $1 million to the organizer.

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Kim Wilford, counsel for GoFundMe, said at the time there was nothing to signal there were issues with the organizer. The money was provided with information on how the funds would be dispersed, including how leftover cash would be sent to registered charities, she said.

After the money was released, Benitez told MPs the situation took a turn.

“Things immediately and very rapidly changed,” he said. “Communication changed, information on the facts changed, the convoy itself changed and we responded to those changes.”

He took MPs through a timeline of how by Feb. 4, after consulting with local police, GoFundMe decided to pull the campaign, which at that point had topped $10 million, and began offering refunds to donors.

Wilford said GoFundMe is proud of how it handled the situation.

The committee heard that more than 85 per cent of the campaign’s donations came from Canada.

The federal government did not directly contact GoFundMe about any concerns with the fundraiser, said Benitez.

“The freedom convoy fundraiser was unique,” he said. “We support peaceful protest, provided they are within our terms of service.”

He said while there are lessons to be learned from the experience, he hopes MPs recognize the action taken by GoFundMe.

The federal government eventually relied on the never-before-used Emergencies Act to choke protesters’ funds.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.

by Brian Konrad

GoFundMe president tells MPs that freedom convoy fundraiser was ‘unique’

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