How American cash for Canada protests could sway US politics

By RICHARD LARDNER, MICHELLE R. SMITH and ALI SWENSON
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Canadians who have disrupted trade with the U.S. and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have been cheered and funded by American right-wing activists and conservative politicians who also oppose vaccine mandates and the country’s liberal leader. Yet whatever impact the protests have on Canadian society, and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, experts say the outside support is really aimed at energizing conservative politics in the U.S. About 44 percent of the nearly $10 million in donations to a campaign to support the protesters came from U.S. donors, according to an Associated Press analysis of leaked files.