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GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

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Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#51
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not following the whole thing but i think part of the controversy is the person collecting the money is suspected to have run off with it or suspected to intend to run off with it, or something. Regardless, i doubt people waving swastikas and demanding that democratic leaders be replaced with a dictatorship is exactly the type of "standing up to government" gofundme envisioned.

What swastikas?

These truckers (and most antivaxxers) somehow think they're as stigmatized as the Jews were during WWII so they often wear yellow stars, compare themselves to Anne Frank, and have signs with the SS moniker / draw swastikas over the flags to demonstrate how oppressed they are.. a few made it on TV while the MP was talking to the news crews. Whenever there's anything remotely anti-government the Gadsen/Confederate battle flags make an appearance too. Just delightful behavior.

https://images.theconversation.com/files/443549/original/fil...

https://albertapolitics.ca/wp-content/uploads/CooperMain-900...

https://albertapolitics.ca/wp-content/uploads/Flags1-238x300...

https://albertapolitics.ca/wp-content/uploads/Flags2-300x245...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKMstBjXsAcY0C4?format=jpg&name=...

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6173258.1631709823!/fileImage/httpImage/i...

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American that is (involuntarily) more concerned with the weather right now than Canadian politics… What makes it unlawful?

Blocking a street for many days is typically considered illegal. I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

What law is it typically considered to violate? Does blocking the street for an hour break that law, or does it have to be "many days"?

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#53
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not following the whole thing but i think part of the controversy is the person collecting the money is suspected to have run off with it or suspected to intend to run off with it, or something. Regardless, i doubt people waving swastikas and demanding that democratic leaders be replaced with a dictatorship is exactly the type of "standing up to government" gofundme envisioned.

What swastikas?

Swastikas flag were seen at the protest.

Also very far-right and nazis groups have joined the protest and were close to the organizers

https://www.antihate.ca/the_freedom_convoy_is_nothing_but_a_...

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#54

okay so this is an unlawful protest that has a detrimental impact on residents, the environment, and local business. Can someone explain to me why this is tolerated and why these people are not simply being arrested? What it reminds me of is that 2014 standoff with the Bundy family on federal land in the US or farmers in France. Some groups can just do whatever they want apparently.

>The whole point of protesting is to make ppl uncomfortable. Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows. To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable... that’s the point.

https://twitter.com/aoc/status/1334184644707758080

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#55
post #3

I'm still curious how these sites skirt banking regulations, for what is essentially what PayPal was originally (advertised as sending/ transferring money, but between delays and dark patterns, it really ends up in an account under their control, at least temporarily). If they're going to lock or delete an account (regardless of reason), there should be a requirement that funds are either paid to the benefactor or re…

> If they're going to lock or delete an account (regardless of reason), there should be a requirement that funds are either paid to the benefactor or refunded immediately.

Gofundme partially locked the funds because they don’t know who the benefactor is anymore (according to their official statement). Who gets the money? Does it just go to every person in the city with a semi truck or is it just going to some random person that we hope won’t take the money and run?

As for refunds, I would be willing to bet anyone that donated could go ask gofundme for a refund right now and get their money back. Sure they could mass refund everyone right away, but it seems like a bad policy to do a mass refund whenever the benefactor becomes unclear. It would be incredibly annoying to fund a huge project and the point of contact for the project quits and for all the funding to instantly get refunded.

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#56
post #41

okay so this is an unlawful protest that has a detrimental impact on residents, the environment, and local business. Can someone explain to me why this is tolerated and why these people are not simply being arrested? What it reminds me of is that 2014 standoff with the Bundy family on federal land in the US or farmers in France. Some groups can just do whatever they want apparently.

I don't really want to get into the weeds here, but when you take a step back and squint a little bit it's hard to tell if this message was written by someone complaining about Canadian Truckers or about the 2020 Summer riots. Maybe let's lean a little more towards letting people express themselves and not bringing in the people with guns?

For one thing, they didn’t block access to hospitals or harass health care workers.

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blocking a street for many days is typically considered illegal. I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

What law is it typically considered to violate? Does blocking the street for an hour break that law, or does it have to be "many days"?

Do you not think there are laws everywhere about blocking traffic? When you reach a destination in your car, do you just park in the middle of the street?

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American that is (involuntarily) more concerned with the weather right now than Canadian politics… What makes it unlawful?

Blocking a street for many days is typically considered illegal. I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

While this is just one part of the protest, but what is happening in Coutts is illegal. Alberta passed an act recently (2020) restricting where you can protest - https://www.alberta.ca/protecting-critical-infrastructure.as...

The Coutts border crossing and highway is currently blocked. This is in contravention of the Critical Infrastructure Act as highways are included.

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#59
post #56
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really want to get into the weeds here, but when you take a step back and squint a little bit it's hard to tell if this message was written by someone complaining about Canadian Truckers or about the 2020 Summer riots. Maybe let's lean a little more towards letting people express themselves and not bringing in the people with guns?

For one thing, they didn’t block access to hospitals or harass health care workers.

I mean I said I didn't want to get into the weeds here, just wanted to make a meta point. But if we must, then perhaps this is a bad criteria to use:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/la-hospita...

Re: GoFundMe pauses donations to Canada truckers

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American that is (involuntarily) more concerned with the weather right now than Canadian politics… What makes it unlawful?

Blocking a street for many days is typically considered illegal. I'm not saying that they should be prevented from protesting (and I strongly disagree with that protest), just answering the question as to why this might be illegal.

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