Our story about the 133 donations, totalling $17,050, from local residents in support of the convoy protesters in Ottawa and elsewhere, through a crowdfunding website begs the obvious question: where are the names?
As the story states, we reached out to three Prince George residents whose names and contact information are on the list. All three declined to comment and we have not been able to independently verify that the information in that document, which was obtained illegally by someone hacking the crowdfunding website, is correct.
The people whose information has been hacked are the victims of a crime, so if you made a donation you might want to contact GiveSendGo to find out if your personal information has been compromised. Legal or not, this information is out in the public domain now,and there are people who may be far less conscientious about how they use it than we have chosen to be.
If any of the three donors we contacted had confirmed in an on-the-record interview that they had made a donation (and in the amount stated), we would not only have included their name but the reasons why they donated. One would think someone willing to put their money behind a worthy cause would be willing to tell others about it, particularly if they've already publicly shared their views on the vaccine mandates through social media.
But if they suddenly lack courage, or perhaps have donor's remorse, well, that's on them. And if they have a change of heart now, or perhaps you made a donation, want to be named and want to talk about why you did so on the record, please don't hesitate to call.
Some readers might feel we'd then be giving space for individuals to justify their support for the illegal activity and the people conducting them. Fair enough but we have always --- and will continue to --- publish views and opinions respectfully stated, whether they agree with us or not.
And fair is fair - if we had received a similar document regarding donations made by local residents to support the Coastal GasLink protests, and you can bet there are some, we would have handled that story (and the publishing of names) in the exact same way.
Frankly, the lack of support from local residents, both in numbers and in dollar amounts, speaks volumes. Talk is cheap and slapping a sign on one's vehicle and honking the horn against vaccine mandates (the handful that remain) is free but putting your money where your mouth is comes with a cost. Clearly, only a handful of area people care enough about these protesters to back the cause with cash.
