How American funding for Canada protests could sway US politics
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With right-wing groups and conservative leaders in the United States involved in the financing in the Canada protests, how extreme could the so-called "Freedom Convoy" go?
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How American funding for Canada protests could sway US politics.
Right-wing groups and conservative leaders in the United States have praised and funded the Canadians who have blocked travel and trade with the United States and seized downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks. They also oppose vaccine mandates and the country's liberal leader.
Regardless of the impact of the protests on Canadian society and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, experts say the foreign support is mainly geared at fueling conservative politics in the United States.
The midterm elections are approaching, and some Republicans believe that joining the protests in the north will boost fundraising and voting participation at home, according to these experts.
“The kind of narratives that the truckers and the trucker convoy are focusing on are going to be really important issues for the US elections coming ahead,” said Samantha Bradshaw, a postdoctoral fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University. “And so using this protest as an opportunity to galvanize their own supporters and other groups, I think it’s very much an opportunity for them.”
In what protesters thought was a prelude to a crackdown, police surged into downtown Ottawa on Thursday, while work crews constructed barriers surrounding Parliament.
44% of contributions came from Americans
According to an AP study of leaked donor papers, around 44% of the over $10 million in contributions to assist the demonstrators came from American contributors. Republican lawmakers in the United States have hailed the demonstrators, calling them "heroes" and "patriots", including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
"You do have a lot of support from your friends in America," Fox News personality Sean Hannity told two protest organizers on his show on Wednesday. I can assure you of that." "We have a movement in America that's starting very soon," he added.
Other countries' financial help has been strongly criticized by Trudeau and other senior Canadian officials.
“What this country is facing is a largely foreign-funded, targeted, and coordinated attack on critical infrastructure and our democratic institutions,” Bill Blair, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said earlier this week.
The protests, according to Ian Reifowitz, a professor of historical studies at the State University of New York, are a "gift" for Republicans in the United States, who will utilize the rallies' populist appeal to collect money ahead of the November midterm elections.
“They constantly need fresh outrages,” said Reifowitz, the author of “The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting Rhetoric on the Obama Presidency Paved the Way for Trump.”
“It’s a terrific (issue) eight or nine months before the election for them,” he said. “It allows you to bank money, bank volunteers, and energize the base, which is what you want to do.”
Where did all the goods come from?
Demonstrators in Ottawa have been provided with fuel and food on a regular basis, and the area around Parliament Hill has resembled a fantastic carnival at times, complete with bouncy castles, gyms, a playground, and a concert stage with DJs.
According to a database of donor information given online by DDoSecrets, a non-profit group, GiveSendGo, a website used to collect money for the Canadian protests, has received at least $9.58 million, with $4.2 million, or 44%, coming from the United States.
However, the Canadian government has been working to prevent protesters from receiving these payments, and it is unclear how much of the money has made it through.
Millions of funds donated through another crowdfunding site, GoFundMe, were halted after Canadian officials lodged a complaint with the firm, which decided that the endeavor breached its terms of service regarding illegal activities.
The GiveSendGo database analyzed by AP showed more than 109,000 donations through Friday night to campaigns in support of the protests, with a little under 62,000 coming from the US.
Several Americans were mentioned as having donated hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars to the protest on GiveSendGo, with the greatest single donation of $90,000 coming from a man named Thomas M. Siebel.
Siebel, the millionaire creator of software business Siebel Systems, did not respond to queries sent to his LinkedIn account or an email affiliated with a foundation he oversees.
When asked if he had donated the money, a spokeswoman from the Siebel Scholars Foundation, who signed her name only as Jennifer, did not respond. Siebel, on the other hand, has a track record of supporting a variety of causes, including attempts to "protect individual liberty," according to her.
“These are personal initiatives and have nothing to do with the companies with which he is associated,” she wrote.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Siebel has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican politicians and organizations over the last 20 years, including a $400,000 contribution in 2019 to a GOP fundraising committee named "Take Back the House 2020."
Launching of GiveSendGo
Tamara Lich launched the GiveSendGo Freedom Convoy initiative on January 27. She used to be a member of the far-right Maverick Party, which advocates for Western Canada's independence.
The Canadian government took action earlier this week to cut off funds to the demonstrators by expanding the scope of the country's anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws to include crowdfunding platforms such as GiveSendGo.
“We are making these changes because we know that these platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity, which is damaging the Canadian economy,” said Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Perhaps more crucial than financial backing, the Canadian demonstrators have received encouragement from prominent American conservative politicians and pundits, such as Sean Hannity, who see like-minded people in their northern neighbors who oppose vaccine mandates.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn posted a video of the convoy on the messaging app Telegram on the same day Lich launched the GiveSendGo campaign.
“These truckers are fighting back against the nonsense and tyranny, especially coming from the Canadian government,” wrote Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who served briefly as former President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor.
Flynn advised people to donate to the Canadian demonstrators a few days later. He used Telegram twice earlier this week to send the phrase "#TrudeauTheCoward," referring to Canada's Liberal Party leader.
The protests are often lauded on Fox News, and Trump took a swipe at Trudeau, calling him a "far-left madman" who has "destroyed Canada with absurd COVID demands." The truckers were dubbed "heroes" and "patriots" by Cruz, and Greene said she can't wait to see a convoy protest in Washington.
