Ottawa’s mayor made a call to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before the Liberal government’s attempt to block donations to the Freedom Convoy, records show..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, cabinet aides were “in regular contact” with city officials in the same period Mayor Jim Watson falsely accused protesters of arson..“The prime minister spoke to the mayor of Ottawa on January 31,” the Department of Public Safety said in a report, Emergencies Act Consultations..While staff did not detail what was discussed, evidence uncovered by the House of Commons public safety committee determined on February 1, one day after the prime minister’s call, the mayor “asked our city solicitor” about $10.1 million in Freedom Convoy donations on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe..On February 2, unnamed city officials “shared reports of violence” with GoFundMe. On February 3 Mayor Watson attended meetings with GoFundMe executives where he claimed street violence had occurred..“We reached out and received credible consistent information from members of law enforcement and members of the Mayor’s Office,” Kim Wilford, general counsel for GoFundMe, earlier testified at the Commons public safety committee. “We heard that there were issues around violence, harassment, damage and at that point we reassessed the campaign.”.“Based on this credible information we made informed decisions that this campaign no longer complied with our terms of service and we removed it from the platform,” Wilford said..The prime minister’s January 31 call to the mayor was not explained. The two spoke again February 8, two days after Watson declared a local state of emergency and falsely claimed protesters attempted to burn down a local apartment building..“We learned of this horrific story that clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of these protesters occupying our city,” Watson said at the time. “Thankfully no one was hurt but this story could have ended very, very differently. It’s extremely disturbing and points to a desire to harm our residents.”.The public safety department’s Consultations report said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also spoke with the mayor on February 7, 8 and 10 before declaring a national emergency. Cabinet aides were also “in regular contact” with the deputy mayor’s office..Minutes of the meetings have not been disclosed to date. Watson is a longtime Liberal organizer and former two-term provincial Liberal cabinet minister..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
