NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s brother-in-law has asked for his $13,000 GoFundMe donation to the trucker convoy to be returned, according to an NDP source.
The development comes as the convoy rolls toward Ottawa, hoping to convince the government to quash all vaccine mandates upon their arrival.
As first reported by CBC News, the source said there was a “misunderstanding” in what the donation would be for, and once Singh’s brother-in-law, Jodhveer Singh Dhaliwal, understood the “true nature of this organization,” he requested his funds to be returned.
Singh, meanwhile, has spoken out against the convoy — and his brother-in-law’s donation.
“I unequivocally disagree with him about this donation and told him so. I am against this convoy and against the dangerous and divisive rhetoric we’re seeing coming from it,” he said.
“I understand people are frustrated that we’re still in this pandemic two years later. The best way to get out of this pandemic, and to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe, is to get vaccinated and to listen to public health experts.”
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The convoy initially kicked off with a focus on opposing vaccine mandates — especially the one aimed at truckers. The government announced in November 2021 that all Canadian truckers looking to cross the border from the United States would need to be vaccinated in order to avoid a 14-day quarantine.
The United States also instituted its own ban on unvaccinated truck drivers on Saturday, a week after Canada implemented its policy.
When the Canadian vaccine policy came into effect on Jan. 15, many truckers and politicians came out against the mandate — and just over a week later, on Jan. 23, truckers hit the road in protest.
In a post from the Freedom Convoy 2022 Facebook page, the organization said the trucking convoy is “anti government mandates,” explaining it opposes any vaccine mandates — not just the one for truckers. That message, however, has become muddied as the movement grows.
One of the groups associated with the event, Canada Unity, has produced a pseudo-legalistic “memorandum of understanding” it plans to present to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and the Senate, which it mistakenly believes would force the government to rescind COVID-19 public health measures, or force the government to resign en masse.
On the protesters’ Zello chat, which is a walkie-talkie app, many supporters expressed their hope that their protest would result in an end to vaccine mandates and other public health measures. But despite organizers’ promises of peaceful protest, moderators would sometimes have to rein in more violent comments.
“If anything we should grab Trudeau by the g—mn neck and kick the s–t out of him for what he’s done,” said one user, who was immediately reminded by several others to keep things “peaceful.”
One supporter, described by anti-hate activists as a far-right vlogger, said in a recent YouTube clip that he’d “like to see our own January 6 event…. See some of those truckers plough right through that 16-foot wall.”
Singh said he is “extremely concerned” by “the false information, the inflammatory, divisive and hateful comments coming out of this campaign.”
He added that he is “extremely concerned by reports of attempts of turning this convoy into a Canadian version of the attack on democracy at the U.S. Capitol last year on January 6.”
“Let us be clear, democracy must not be intimidated. Leaders and politicians in Canada have a duty to end divisive rhetoric and end the flaming of hatred,” he said.
He added that the people conducting the convoy “do not represent the thousands of hardworking, responsible truck drivers who have worked tirelessly to get Canadians through the pandemic.”
“The vaccination rate of their membership is on par with the vaccination rate of all Canadians. This convoy does not speak for Canadian truck drivers,” Singh said.
“Canadians have a right to feel safe. We have to very clearly denounce hate and give it no air to breathe and no space to take hold.”
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