Take That, Truckers: GoFundMe Freezes $10 Million Canadian Freedom Convoy Fundraiser

A GoFundMe fundraiser entitled “Freedom Convoy 2022” with over $10 million raised was frozen by the online crowdfunding platform on Wednesday.

The fundraiser is marketed was marketed as benefiting truckers demonstrating in Ottawa, Canada, against coronavirus vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and varying decrees ostensibly issued by Canadian authorities to protect “public health” in the context of coronavirus.

Currently valued at $10,096,500, GoFundMe labeled the “Freedom Convoy 2022” fundraiser as “under review” and added the following message:

This fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations. Our team is working 24/7 and doing all we can to protect both organizers and donors. Thank you for your patience.

Several convoys of truckers congregated in Ottawa on Saturday, parking in front of Parliament Hill, the seat of Canada’s federal government, to demonstrate against restrictive mandates — marketed as measures to reduce coronavirus transmission — imposed by varying levels of government.

Mathieu Fleury, a city councilor in Ottawa, called for municipal seizure of the $10 million raised by the “Freedom Convoy 2022” via a tweet on Sunday. He wrote, “This morning I have asked the city manager and city solicitor to immediately launch court proceedings targeting the millions of dollars in funds frozen by GoFundMe so Ottawa taxpayers are not left holding the bag for these protests.” He later deleted the tweet.

Diane Deans, another Ottawa city councilor, asked if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson would “call GoFundMe in the [United] States directly” to “demand that they cease and desist sending money to these unlawful protesters.”