The Freedom Convoy launches just south of Prince Albert on Saturday, Feb. 19. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Convoy

From Porcupine Plain to Prince Albert, convoy donations rolled in from Northern Saskatchewan

Feb 23, 2022 | 8:00 AM

With one donation valued over $2,000, but many smaller contributions averaging between $50 and $100, the GiveSendGo donations for the Freedom Convoy included money from Prince Albert and across the northeast.

The single largest donation of $2,200 came from a trucking company in Melfort. Donations from Prince Albert totalled $3,075, with the largest dollar value $500.

All told, communities such as Nipawin, Tisdale, Gronlid, Fairy Glen, Porcupine Plain and Mistatim had local donors give $3,455 to the recent protests.

None of the money has made it to the convoy, however, as the bank accounts of the recipients have been frozen by the Government of Canada, a move that is being disputed by convoy organizers.

“Despite news reports, please know that the Ontario government does not have possession of your donations,” reads a campaign update posted on Feb. 12. “The order announced by the government is only a temporary block of your donations to be passed on to the truckers by Freedom 2022 to the truckers here in Ottawa. Our legal team is challenging the government’s order and we are working at ways around this.”

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However, since then all of the organizers have been arrested and face charges such as mischief under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Tamara Lich, the woman from Medicine Hat, Alta, who started both the now-defunct GoFundMe and who introduces the GiveSendGo campaign by video, has been denied bail and will remain in custody until a judge chooses to release her or her case is resolved.

Bail conditions for other organizers, such as Chris Barber, include not being able to promote the protest in any way and also to stay out of Ottawa.

A hearing for Pat King was not resolved today and will continue.

Police have removed the vehicles and people associated with the demonstration in Ottawa, along with blockades in Winsor, Ont. that closed the Ambassador Bridge and another at Coutts, Alta. that closed the Canada/US border in that location as well.

GiveSendGo, however, still has the campaign listed as active, with a fundraising goal of $16 million (USD), which is over $20 million (CAD). As of February 22, the donations were at $9.7 million (USD), which is over $12.3 million in Canadian dollars.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow