Declaration of Emergency Committee on Nov. 17th, 2022

[Kim Wilford]

Yes, I absolutely can.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

What kinds of threats did you receive?

[Kim Wilford]

There were death threats to members of our management team. Individuals had to get personal security at their homes.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

How many threats were received, approximately?

[Kim Wilford]

There were enough that we ended up thinking it was prudent to get personal security for a number of executive team members.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

That personal security came at some cost to GoFundMe. Have you ever sought to recoup those costs from the convoy organizers?

[Kim Wilford]

It came at considerable cost to GoFundMe, and no, we have not sought to recoup that from anyone.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Thank you.

We will now go to Mr. Fortin.

Mr. Fortin, you have five minutes.

I will note that, should the senators return, we will finish up the round, at that point, and allow them to come in and continue with their rounds.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Wilford, in your last set of answers, you said that you received a significant number of threats, to the point that you sought personal security for your employees.

Did police ever investigate to identify where the threats were coming from?

[Kim Wilford]

We worked with outside security firms to determine an appropriate response for GoFundMe. That's the action we took: We worked with private security.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I gather, then, that you did not file a complaint with police or try to obtain police protection for your employees. The police were not involved. Only GoFundMe's in‑house private security was involved.

Is that correct?

[Kim Wilford]

That is correct. We shared information with private security.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Why didn't you feel the need to involve the police?

[Kim Wilford]

Individuals who were targets of these threats are in a variety of different locations. We relied on private security firms and their expertise to determine if they should reach out beyond, to law enforcement.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I understand, but usually, when someone receives threats of that sort, that person's first responsibility is to contact police. You didn't, and that puzzles me. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around that.

If they were serious threats, it seems to me that they should have been reported to police.

Don't you think?

[Kim Wilford]

I can assure you these threats were extremely serious and we thought it was prudent to work with private security, as I've said a few times.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

You're telling me that you considered the threats to be serious. I believe you. I don't doubt it. All I'm saying is that any member of the public who received serious threats would contact the police. You didn't. I understand that you involved in‑house security. You've said that repeatedly, and you're right to mention it. I'm not asking the same question over again.

This is what I want to know: why didn't you contact police?

That's my question.

[Kim Wilford]

I think you have a misunderstanding of how this works. We do not have personal security in-house. We work with an outside third party security firm that acts as a liaison with the police. The individuals who were targets did not have to directly interact with the police; the third party security firm does that.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Do you have reports detailing the contact between the private security firm and police?

[Kim Wilford]

I do not have those reports.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Wouldn't you like to have them?

Isn't that something important to have?

[Kim Wilford]

What was important was ensuring the safety of the people who were the targets. I felt we were handling that appropriately.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

How many people did your private security firm provide protection for?

[Kim Wilford]

There were three people and their families.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Where did they live?