The Liberal government relied on CBC reporting stories for justification in using emergency powers against the Freedom Convoy, Attorney General David Lametti testified last night at parliamentary hearings..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Lametti said he invoked the Emergencies Act after CBCNews reported foreigners bankrolled the protest..“CBC reported, I believe on the 14th of February or the 13th of February, that there was foreign funding through a variety of different sites. He added the various pieces of information that we had explained the various measures that we took.”.NDP MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, Ont.) said the federal government must be forthcoming in explaining what facts it relied on to invoke the Emergencies Act..“We’ve heard this from the Liberal side time and time again that these decisions were made on the basis of facts,” Green.said..“Be honest with Canadians about the evidence and the facts pertaining to the measures that you chose,” said Green, who questioned “the ability of the government to communicate clearly to Canadians about what the actual facts were.”.CBC producers corrected two false stories claiming there was foreign interference in the Freedom Convoy. On January, 28 CBC-TV said Russian actors could be “continuing to fuel things as this protest grows or perhaps even instigating it from the outside.” On.February 10, CBC Radio claimed the crowdfunding website GoFundMe suspended convoy contributions “over questionable donations to the group.”.Both stories were later proven to be incorrect..The Liberal government repeatedly claimed large amounts of foreign cash financed the Freedom Convoy. “It is important that we follow the money because for a number of weeks there have been alarm bells going off about the rate at which the leaders have been able to raise significant funds, much of which has been raised from abroad,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters February 16..“We have seen strong evidence that it was the intention of those who blockaded our ports of entry in a largely foreign-funded, targeted and coordinated attack which was clearly criminally intended to harm Canada, to harm Canadians,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said at the time..“We cannot leave anyone with the impression our democracy is negotiable or subject to efforts of appeasement,” Blair.said..GoFundMe disclosed on March 3 that $10.1 million raised for protesters was comprised of mainly small donations. A majority, 88%, originated in Canada..“The largest donation in this campaign was from a Canadian and it was in the amount of $30,000,” Kim Wilford, general counsel for GoFundMe, testified March 17 at the House of Commons Finance Committee..Conservative MP Larry Brock (Brantford-Brant, Ont.), a former Crown prosecutor, said emergency powers were not required against convoy protesters because there were no guns found..“There were no tanks brought to Wellington Street,” Brock.said. “No one stormed any Parliament buildings. There were no efforts to occupy any government building. Some called on the prime minister to resign, but there were no forms of force to try to make that happen.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
The Liberal government relied on CBC reporting stories for justification in using emergency powers against the Freedom Convoy, Attorney General David Lametti testified last night at parliamentary hearings..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Lametti said he invoked the Emergencies Act after CBCNews reported foreigners bankrolled the protest..“CBC reported, I believe on the 14th of February or the 13th of February, that there was foreign funding through a variety of different sites. He added the various pieces of information that we had explained the various measures that we took.”.NDP MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, Ont.) said the federal government must be forthcoming in explaining what facts it relied on to invoke the Emergencies Act..“We’ve heard this from the Liberal side time and time again that these decisions were made on the basis of facts,” Green.said..“Be honest with Canadians about the evidence and the facts pertaining to the measures that you chose,” said Green, who questioned “the ability of the government to communicate clearly to Canadians about what the actual facts were.”.CBC producers corrected two false stories claiming there was foreign interference in the Freedom Convoy. On January, 28 CBC-TV said Russian actors could be “continuing to fuel things as this protest grows or perhaps even instigating it from the outside.” On.February 10, CBC Radio claimed the crowdfunding website GoFundMe suspended convoy contributions “over questionable donations to the group.”.Both stories were later proven to be incorrect..The Liberal government repeatedly claimed large amounts of foreign cash financed the Freedom Convoy. “It is important that we follow the money because for a number of weeks there have been alarm bells going off about the rate at which the leaders have been able to raise significant funds, much of which has been raised from abroad,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters February 16..“We have seen strong evidence that it was the intention of those who blockaded our ports of entry in a largely foreign-funded, targeted and coordinated attack which was clearly criminally intended to harm Canada, to harm Canadians,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said at the time..“We cannot leave anyone with the impression our democracy is negotiable or subject to efforts of appeasement,” Blair.said..GoFundMe disclosed on March 3 that $10.1 million raised for protesters was comprised of mainly small donations. A majority, 88%, originated in Canada..“The largest donation in this campaign was from a Canadian and it was in the amount of $30,000,” Kim Wilford, general counsel for GoFundMe, testified March 17 at the House of Commons Finance Committee..Conservative MP Larry Brock (Brantford-Brant, Ont.), a former Crown prosecutor, said emergency powers were not required against convoy protesters because there were no guns found..“There were no tanks brought to Wellington Street,” Brock.said. “No one stormed any Parliament buildings. There were no efforts to occupy any government building. Some called on the prime minister to resign, but there were no forms of force to try to make that happen.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
