Covid Journal, Feb 3, 2022 ‘What the Truck’ Edition: #GoFundMe to Face Commons Investigation

It looks like #GoFundMe is going to have to face the House of Commons, as MPs voted unanimously today to call the fundraising site to a special Committee hearing.

The volume of anonymous donations seems to be key to the need for this inquiry. Are international actors funding a potential powder-keg situation in Ottawa?

An amendment proposed by Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed calls on officials from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) — Canada’s money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog — to also appear before the committee.

While #GoFundMe is refunding some of the donations, it’s unlikely that it will emerge from this without a dent in its reputation.

Meanwhile, jack sh!t has happened on the enforcement front. For a city that’s well-known for giving out tickets when you’re 5 minutes over the clock or when in 2010 ‘kettling’ became a new word for most Canadians or when the RCMP arrested journalists for trying to cover the protests at the Wet’suwet’en camp, we’ve seen very little action from Ottawa or provincial police or even the RCMP.

At one point will action be taken to protect everyday law-abiding citizens?