In a proposed class-action lawsuit against it, GiveSendGo told the court that it would refund the remaining donations made to the Freedom Convoy and Adopt a Tracker campaigns. The complainants in the lawsuit wanted the funds to be seized and given to those who were allegedly “affected” by the protests, like Ottawa business owners and residents.
The lawyer for the class-action lawsuit, Monique Jilesen, argued that the purpose of the order was to secure the donations so that a court would decide where the funds would go.
But GiveGoSend’s co-founder Jacob Wells said that the platform’s terms of service give it the discretion to refund donations to the donors. He further argued that since the convoy protests had ended, it was not possible to distribute the funds for their intended purpose. So, the platform would refund to donors to “protect our givers’ intentions,” Global News reported.
But according to Jilesen, refunding donors is a breach of the freezing order. A lawyer from the Ontario’s Attorney General’s office, Melissa Adams, agreed with Jilesen’s arguments.
The judge in the case said that the freezing order applied to funds in the possession of GiveSendGo, not undistributed funds. He added that whether the fundraising platform was in breach of the freezing order issued by Ontario was outside his purview.
Meanwhile, Tory MP James Bezan has asked for the investigation of the data breach that led to the exposure of tens of thousands of donors. He argued that it is “important that the privacy rights of all Canadians are respected.”
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