Where Did Convoy Support Come From?

The Tyee | Christopher Cheung  | Mar 15, 2022

Where did support for the Canada’s convoy protests come from?

Thanks to a data leak, we have a rough idea.

• The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began in B.C.’s Lower Mainland and traversed the country before converging in Ottawa on Jan. 29.
• The protests attracted people with a broad mix of views, including anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown and anti-government sentiments.
• At first, convoy organizers used the crowdfunding website GoFundMe to collect donations. But after police reports of violence by protesters in Ottawa, the website decided to stop hosting the cause.
• Organizers then migrated fundraising efforts to GiveSendGo, which describes itself as “The No. 1 Free Christian Fundraising Site.”

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Leaked Data

GiveSendGo accepted donations from Feb. 1 to 10 before hackers illegally targeted the site and leaked donor data online. The hackers did not steal any donations.

• The leaked data contains donors’ full names, email addresses, postal codes, donation amounts, methods of payment and personal comments. It does not contain credit card information.
• Based on the postal codes, we are able to map where convoy donations came from and how much they gave. This analysis gives us a sense of where support for the convoy clustered in Canada and beyond.

Was there foreign interference?

• Almost $10 million was raised during the GiveSendGo campaign.
• While 51,666 Americans donated compared to 36,202 Canadians, Canadians donated more money.

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Which province or territory gave the most?

• Populous Ontario garnered the most donations, with about 14,000 donors giving $1.6 million.
• In second place is B.C. Over 7,200 British Columbians gave about $909,000.
• Next is Alberta, where over 6,600 residents gave about $866,000.

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