Ontario Government Employee Fired Over $100 Contribution To Freedom Convoy

The communications director for the Ontario ministry responsible for enforcing the law was fired this week after her $100 donation to the Freedom Conovoy was revealed in the hack of donors to a GiveSendGo campaign, according to CTV News.

Marion Isabeau-Ringuette was one of several government staffers whose donations drew the eye of Sauron after the list of some 100,000 donors was leaked.

“For the communications director to be financially supporting an unlawful, illegal occupation is definitely concerning,” said NDP MPP Catherine Fife. “Who was donating, why were they donating, and did this contribute to the non-action that happened on the ground in Ottawa?”

According to Ontario Premier Doug Ford spokeswoman Ivana Yelich, “Ms. Isabeau-Ringuette no longer works for the Ontario government.”

Isabeau-Ringuette worked as a political staffer as recently as Sunday for Ontario’s Solicitor-General, the position that oversees police and other law enforcement in Ontario.

The $100 donation was listed as anonymous on GiveSendGo, but in a pair of leaked documents totalling nearly 100,000 donations, one line reads “M.R.” with an email address that contains Isabeau-Ringuette’s name. -CTV

Another employee under scrutiny works for the federal correctional service, while a pollster with ties to the governing Progressive Conservative party was also accused in an NDP news release of donating to the protesters, who oppose government vaccine mandates and other restrictions.

According to Toronto lawyer Nainesh Kotak, even small donors to the fund – should the continue donating – run the risk of frozen bank accounts since the government invoked the Emergencies Act.

“Under this enactment I would suggest the government could freeze bank accounts if they chose to do so,” he said, adding “That’s concerning. The targets should be the bigger players.”

George Washington University postdoc fellow Yunkang Yan says conservative US politicians are using the Freedom Convoy to energize their base.

““A lot of influential right-wing media have been promoting narratives about that for a long time. They have very big audiences. People from all walks of life on the political right might be a viewer of their content on a regular basis,” which includes those on both sides of the border. “That might be why they are really sucked into this.”

Who is funding the #FreedomConvoy?

Part II: Adopt-A-Trucker edition.

If the newer leak from @GiveSendGo via #DDOS is accurate…

Canada slightly edges out US donors at about 47 per cent in terms of the number of donors.

Interactive: https://t.co/NFJTAOrjeR pic.twitter.com/jB9lcH1rgC

— Jon Woodward (@ctv_jon) February 16, 2022