Liberal MPs last night asked that GoFundMe identify how much the Freedom Convoy raised in Russia. It follows a discredited CBC News report that questioned whether the Kremlin financed Parliament Hill protests..Speaking at a night session of the Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency, Liberal MP Rachel Bendayan (Outremont, Que.), parliamentary secretary for finance, made the request of executives with GoFundMe. “Can you commit to providing the committee a breakdown of where those donations originated from?” asked Bendayan..According to Blacklock's Reporter, GoFundMe saw $10 million contributed to the Freedom Convoy by 133,836 donors. Most were Canadian. The largest single donation of $30,000 originated in Canada. “Our records show 88% of the donated funds originated in Canada and 86% of donors were from Canada,” testified Kim Wilford, general counsel for GoFundMe..The crowdfunding site in a written submission said some 4,000 small donations, about 3% of the total, came from neither Canada nor the United States but 80 other countries. “We would like a breakdown of those countries,” said Bendayan..“Can you confirm to the committee that no donations were received from China?” asked Bendayan. “I do not believe that any donations were received from China,” replied Wilford..“Can you similarly confirm with respect to any donations from Russia?” asked Bendayan. “Yes,” replied Wilford..“We will await those further details,” said Bendayan..Conservative MP Larry Brock (Brantford-Brant, Ont.) said the Freedom Convoy had been the target of “disinformation and misinformation being spread by the Liberal government, the prime minister, the ministers associated in higher positions involving this convoy, as well as our state-sponsored CBC," alleging foreign financing..“The CBC very early on in the protests accused the Kremlin of funding the convoy in a Jan. 28 broadcast of Power & Politics while interviewing Public Safety Minister Mendicino, a claim the CBC had to walk back days later,” said Brock..CBC host Nil Koksal alleged Russian interference in the Jan. 28 broadcast. “We have heard references to potential outside actors,” said Koksal. “Who could these outside actors be? Where might they be from?”.“There is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows or perhaps even instigating it from the outside,” said Koksal..The claim prompted numerous complaints. “It should have been caught before broadcast,” wrote CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler. “I am also disappointed that programmers were not more sensitive in advance to the perils of speculation on subjects such as the convoy or Russian interference in Canadian affairs.”
