Declaration of Emergency Committee on Dec. 1st, 2022

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

I have a point of order, Chair.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Yes, Mr. Motz.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Maybe she could let the witness answer the question.

[Jacob Wells]

We did verify that. That's part of our verification processes: who the individuals are who are receiving the funds, what their—

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Mr. Wells, I'm sorry. The time is up for that question. I know it's difficult when you're not here.

We'll move to Mr. Fortin, to be followed by Mr. Green.

You each have three minutes.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Mr. Wells, after everything we've just said, do you want to reconfirm that you were never contacted by a Canadian police service, be it a municipal service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Ontario Provincial Police, regarding fundraising for the "freedom convoy"?

[Jacob Wells]

I want to make that very clear. That never happened, but also, the “freedom convoy” corporation was also a corporation that was authorized by the state, the Province of Ontario.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Mr. Wells, I'm going to ask you one final question.

Can you confirm that you were never contacted by the authorities or by an official of the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario or the Ottawa Municipal Council?

[Jacob Wells]

That's correct.

[The Joint Chair, Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

Thank you, Mr. Wells.

[The Joint Chair, Hon. Gwen Boniface]

Mr. Green, you have the floor.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

I just want to close the loop on that particular line of questioning.

In the months after the occupation, have you been in contact with any government officials, political entities or political parties for any conversations related to your involvement in the convoy?

[Jacob Wells]

We have been interviewed by the commission.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Was it just the commission and no political actors?

[Jacob Wells]

There were no political actors, to my knowledge.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

Going back to your charity, sir, is your charity funded by the gift portions of your platform?

[Jacob Wells]

No, it's not. Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by “gift portions of the platform”.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

I understand that you receive tips. Does a portion of the tips go to your charitable donations?

[Jacob Wells]

GiveSendGo is a for-profit business. We operate on the revenue generated by tips. We cover the costs of the charity so that 100% of any money that the charity raises and disburses goes to the need that's arisen.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

In terms of your charitable aspect, your testimony today is that it's funded through some of the tips.

I want to reference the March 2022 Time magazine article that suggested and reported that GiveSendGo received more than $640,000 in gift donations from supporters of the “freedom convoy” and the “adopt a trucker” campaign.

I want to make sure I understand it correctly. The gift portion, the $640,000, was something that you received. Is that correct?

[Jacob Wells]

It sounds about right.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

In other words, you raised $600,000 for the cause and $640,000 for your own organization. Is that correct?

[Jacob Wells]

The total amount raised was approximately $13 million Canadian, and I think we received around $600,000 in tips.

[The Joint Chair, NDP, Matthew Green]

In other words, you're an organization called GiveSendGo that, from the lists of your various clients, profits off organizations that have effectively been cut off from other mainstream, legitimate online platforms. Is it the case that you're the online platform of last resort and part of...? That seems like a really high amount of money to be raising off a charitable donation.

[Jacob Wells]

It's voluntary, so people do it of their own volition.