The Public Order Emergency Committee heard evidence this morning about donations to the protest made via wire transfers, cryptocurrencies and fundraising platforms such as GiveSendGo and GoFundMe. Despite raising millions of dollars to support their cause through crowdsourcing websites, convoy organizers have been prevented by court orders from accessing most of these funds. But a review compiled by the Public Order Emergency Committee said that, starting on Jan. 27, an Ottawa man — Nicholas St. to donate small amounts of Bitcoin at no cost. The commission is reviewing the circumstances that led the federal government to invoke emergency legislation to quell the crowds and vehicles that blocked Ottawa’s streets for weeks last winter. The cryptocurrency campaign Honk Honk Hodl was able to distribute about $800,000, said the report, which was presented before the investigation on Thursday. “This had been achieved by distributing physical envelopes containing instructions on how to access approximately $8,000 worth of Bitcoins using a mobile phone,” it said. The committee said about 100 e-wallets were prepared and distributed on Feb. 16 to people participating in the Ottawa protests. According to the report, St. Louis closed the Tallycoin fundraiser on February 14 and, in a video broadcast on February 19 on Twitter Spaces, said that most of the remaining Bitcoin was in a “multisig wallet” – a digital wallet that requires a minimum number of electronic “signatures” to authorize a money transfer.
The cash is handed out in envelopes, says the cashier
The committee’s review of the report also said many protest participants left cash donations at tents collecting money to buy fuel and food. The report says the money was later transferred to the Swiss Hotel in Ottawa, where Chad Eros, who was the entourage’s treasurer, was staying. “Later a system was put in place where the money was placed in numbered envelopes with $500 in each. People would then sign these envelopes and distribute them to the truckers,” the report said. “Records were kept of the identities of people who were given files and this information was tracked in a spreadsheet.” A protester screams and hits gas canisters together during the ongoing convoy protest in Ottawa on February 10, 2022. (Blair Gable/Reuters) Eros told the committee he estimates about $20,000 in cash flows through the Swiss Hotel daily from collecting donations on the main stage. He said a similar system was in place at another hub housed outside the ARC Hotel in downtown Ottawa. “Mr. Eros had no direct knowledge of the source of his funding, but he understood that individuals would bring cash to the ARC Hotel, which would be processed and placed in envelopes of $2,000 CAD before being distributed to the protesters.” the Commission’s report said.
Millions of dollars suspended, frozen
The report also explained how most of the millions of dollars raised by online protesters ended up in an escrow account or returned to donors. The report showed that most of the money raised for the protest through a GoFundMe campaign started by Tamara Lich – who is testifying later today – was of Canadian origin. According to information GoFundMe provided to the committee, the self-proclaimed Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign had 133,836 donors. About 86 percent of those donations — 107,000 — came from Canada. The website reported that 14,000 donors were in the United States. GoFundMe suspended the page over concerns that the escort protest had violated its rules on violence and harassment, according to a commission report released Thursday morning. It says about 93 percent of all donations to the “Freedom Convoy 2022” campaign had been returned. The remaining refunds are either pending settlement or — in the case of 144 donations — subject to chargebacks or disputes. According to court documents, $1 million disbursed to Lich’s TD Bank account was frozen and eventually paid into escrow. Other fundraising streams show a different makeup. According to information provided to the committee by GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding website, the “Freedom Convoy 2022” campaign it hosted received donations from 113,152 donors totaling US$9,776,559. On February 10, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a request by the provincial government to freeze access to millions of dollars donated online through GiveSendGo. A court also granted what’s known as a Mareva injunction on Feb. 17 on behalf of Ottawa residents pursuing a proposed class action against leaders and protesters. That order froze millions of dollars in cryptocurrency and other financial donations to the protest. As part of this order, a trustee was appointed to receive and hold the frozen funds.
Leach prepared to testify
Three organizers of the Ottawa march are expected to appear today at the public inquiry into the federal government’s use of the emergency law. Benjamin Dichter, James Bauder and Tamara Lich will testify before the Public Order Emergency Committee, which is considering the use of emergency policing powers in mid-February to clear what had become a week-long occupation of downtown Ottawa. Dichter was the protest’s first spokesperson and later helped coordinate a cryptocurrency fundraiser for the march. Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich, left, and Chris Barber talk as they await the start of the Public Order Emergency Commission on Nov. 1 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Lich was responsible for creating one of the original online fundraisers and soon became one of the movement’s most prominent leaders. Bauder created the Canada Unity group that helped develop the original escort plan. Ottawa residents, business associations, officials and police have already testified at the public hearings. The hearings are expected to continue until Nov. 25 and culminate with testimony from federal leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
