‘Rebel News Sponsor’: Far-right website sent out fundraising email for Higgs re-election campaign

Rebel News sent out a sponsored email blast this month to support the campaign to re-elect Premier Blaine Higgs.

The fundraising ad raises questions about the relationship between the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick and the far-right website.

Rebel News, an online publication, sends out messages on a daily basis to its followers, often with links to Breitbart-style clickbait articles, petitions and appeals for cash.

On Feb. 5, the website sent out an email from the “Blaine Higgs Leadership Team.” The subject line said “Rebel News Sponsor,” and the email linked to the webpage HelpHiggsWin.ca/Rebel.

During a recent visit to Alberta, Premier Higgs attracted criticism when he sat down for an interview with a Rebel News reporter. The fundraising email referenced that controversy.

“Premier Higgs was willing to sit down with an independent journalist, and not solely the mainstream media. But according to leftists in New Brunswick… well, sitting down with Rebel News was a grave sin,” the email stated, in part.

The message itself was attributed to Steve Outhouse, the Premier’s 2024 election campaign manager. A former Baptist pastor and Harper-era federal official, he led last year’s campaign to elect Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Details about the sponsorship arrangement remain unclear. The NB Media Co-op sent multiple interview requests by phone and email to Higgs and Outhouse for this story but didn’t receive a response.

An executive from Rebel News acknowledged the ad campaign in an email to the NB Media Co-op.

“It’s a political party ad,” said Eitan Gilboord, chief operating officer of Rebel News. “We sell ads to a variety of parties.”

He pointed to examples including the right-wing People’s Party of Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada, stating that Rebel News accepts ads “from almost anyone.”

He didn’t respond to queries about standard advertising rates, or how much money the New Brunswick Tories paid for the ad.

Rebel News describes itself as an outlet that refuses to accept funds from any level of government, a claim thrown into question by the sponsorship agreement with New Brunswick’s governing party.

Gilboord seemed to reject that interpretation. “It’s an ad from a party, not a subsidy from a government,” he said.

The fundraising email called for people across Canada to contribute to the Tory war chest, citing New Brunswick election law.

“Elections New Brunswick rules allow for donations from all across the country,” the sponsored email stated.

“If everyone reading this note contributes $18, Premier Higgs would have the resources he needs to communicate directly with voters, instead of relying on the mainstream media to get the word out.”

Elections NB spokesman Paul Harpelle confirmed that contributions from individuals outside New Brunswick are allowed under the Political Process Financing Act, with an annual limit of $3,000.

Harpelle said in an email that “the people responsible for political financing are looking into this to make sure the contributions are being done following the PPFA rules.”

Critics say that Rebel News, founded in 2015 by Ezra Levant, has spread misinformation about climate change and vaccines while serving as a platform anti-immigrant rhetoric and extremist groups such as the Greek neo-fascist party Golden Dawn.

The fundraising email from Steve Outhouse took issue with “extremist, woke activists” and “mainstream media outlets that receive Trudeau’s media subsidy.”

Rebel News has provided glowing coverage of Higgs, particularly over his controversial changes to Policy 713, New Brunswick’s policy on gender diversity and inclusion in schools.

Following the government’s updates to that policy last year, teachers need the consent of parents before using the “preferred” name or pronoun of a trans or non-binary student under 16.

The government has courted controversy over the issue, with Higgs citing “parental rights” and at one point suggesting that students are being “taught to lie to their parents.”

Rebel News has used controversy over gender inclusion policies in schools as a launchpad for its own fundraising efforts, with a webpage called “Stop Classroom Grooming.”

That webpage states: “we’re up against the teacher unions, the entire woke leftist mob, the government, and even Antifa,” a reference to antifascist activists.

It remains to be seen whether Higgs’ appeal to the far-right will pay off in this year’s general election, which is scheduled to take place by Oct. 21.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).