Staffer of Ontario’s Solicitor General steps away after online donation to ‘freedom convoy’
Posted February 15, 2022 8:20 pm.
Last Updated February 15, 2022 10:40 pm.
Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones’s director of communications is no longer employed after recently donating $100 to the convoy protests that have paralyzed Canada’s capital for over two weeks.
A spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford confirmed that Marion Isabeau-Ringuette “no longer works for the Ontario government.”
“We’re not commenting any further as this is a staffing matter,” said Ivana Yelich, Ford’s executive director of media relations on Tuesday.
It was revealed that Isabeau-Ringuette donated $100 to an online fundraiser created by an organizer of anti-mandates and anti-government protests on February 5.
According to Q.P. Briefing, the donation was made under the initials” M.R.,” but her identity was confirmed based on the email address and postal code linked to the offering.
Isabeau-Ringuette was still working for the government as of Sunday as she was connected to a press release centred on keeping pets safe during extreme cold.
According to her LinkedIn page, Isabeau-Ringuette was hired in February 2020 after serving as Press Secretary to the Solicitor General for just over one year.
Protesters were initially raising funds on GoFundMe, but the crowdfunding website ultimately decided to remove the donations page to the Freedom Convoy 2022 and began offering full refunds after the more than $10 million raised helped support what they described as “violence and other unlawful activity.”
Organizers then turned to GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding platform, where it raised more than $US8.4 million before an Ontario court froze access to the funds at the provincial government’s request.
Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly, who resigned on Tuesday, said late last week that the most significant restriction on his force’s ability to end the protests is a lack of officers. Sloly said he was still waiting on a response to his request for 1,800 personnel from the RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police.
Ford declared a state of emergency on Friday, making it illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services through critical infrastructure. At the same time, both the cities of Ottawa and Windsor were granted injunctions to deal with protesters.
With files from The Canadian Press
