Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you again to our witnesses for being here with us today.
I will start with a bit of context on where my concerns are. My questions will be directed to GoFundMe.
First, there were donations made to finance activities that were illegal and hurtful to the economy. Second, there were a number of foreign donations, and they increased as the illegal activities became more extreme and more hurtful to our economy, and to the residents of Ottawa, for example. At GoFundMe, 12% of donations were identified as foreign-sourced. That contribution increased to nearly 50% once you closed your platform to those donations, when GiveSendGo opened for donations. We also heard U.S. news channels with different standards, quite frankly, for the integrity for their information, which incited four-million-plus viewers to donate and participate in those illegal activities.
As part of the context, too, we know that Russia has been engaged in misinformation warfare for years. We only have to look at the Mueller report to understand that. They do have at their disposal, according to serious economic studies—one from Cambridge, Massachusetts—$1 trillion in Russian dark money that is circulating and dedicated to undermining our democracy.
You accumulated $10 million from donors, and the other platform the same thing, with more foreign donations. You paid out $1 million to organizers of blockades that occupied Ottawa and the bridge for the stated purpose of defying our democracy, at the time Russia was preparing for war. That's the context, and it could have been a lot worse if you hadn't acted quickly and if our government hadn't acted quickly. This can no longer happen. I'm very glad to hear that you want to be a leader in protecting the integrity of the donation platforms.
My question for you is about the source of the donations. I know you're not subject to the proceeds of crime legislation, but if you were—which we will definitely look at.... The international work right now on identifying sources of financing focuses on the ultimate beneficial owner of an account. I say this because we know that Russia and all other money launderers hold bank accounts in every country under several shell companies, or even companies that appear legitimate. Therefore, what is your due diligence to look beyond the credit card holder?