The protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa and across Canada are being fueled by individuals from the United States and around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday
TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2022) The protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa and across Canada are being fueled by individuals from the United States and around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
"These illegal blockades are being heavily supported by individuals in the United States and from elsewhere around the world," Trudeau said in the House of Commons during an emergency debate concerning his invocation of the Emergencies Act to quell the protests.
The Prime Minister cited information leaked online by hackers that revealed approximately half of the funding for the Freedom Convoy protests came from the United States. Hackers targeted on Sunday the GiveSendGo crowdfunding site that helped raise $8.7 million for the participants of the Freedom Convoy.
A previous attempt by the government to stop donations to the protesters resulted in another crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe, freezing of some $9 million and saying they would redirect the funds to a charity of their choice. GoFundMe refunded the money after public backlash and warnings by US lawmakers that they will investigate the platform for theft.
The Trudeau government has condemned the peaceful protests in Canada as "illegal" and an "occupation," and granted itself additional powers to deal with the protests in Ottawa and across the country amid widespread criticism in Canada and abroad of a significant government overreach.
The wave of protests began in mid-January, with thousands of truckers and other demonstrators converging on Ottawa to demand the government scrap the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The protest has since gathered diverse groups of citizens and evolved into a demonstration against the Trudeau government.
