A government-funded advocacy group has acknowledged contacting an Ottawa convention center regarding its rental of space to an organization critical of the Liberal Party but denies acting on government orders.
Blacklock's Reporter says the taxpayer-subsidized Canadian Anti-Hate Network confirmed making the call but insisted it was not directed by federal officials.
“It was to provide the venue the opportunity to comment,” said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Anti-Hate Network. He asserted that federal departments had no influence over the call.
“We are a completely independent organization,” he said.
Balgord admitted the group reached out to the Ottawa Conference Centre about its rental arrangement for the May 9 Youth Summit of the Campaign Life Coalition, an event held in conjunction with the group’s annual March for Life on Parliament Hill.
The Anti-Hate Network later claimed that a keynote speaker at the conference had previously given a “Roman or Nazi salute.”
Balgord did not explain why convention center managers were expected to comment on their rental policies.
He also declined to say whether the group had attempted to have the booking canceled.
The Network has previously accused critics of the Liberal government of racism. In 2022, it published a taxpayer-funded guide, Confronting And Preventing Hate In Canadian Schools, which alleged that white nationalists “sometimes attempt to infiltrate mainstream Conservative political parties.”
Records show that on April 1, the Department of Public Safety awarded the Anti-Hate Network $200,000 for “research on far-right organizing in Canada,” while the Department of Canadian Heritage provided an additional $440,000 for “anti-racism initiatives.”
Neither department provided comment on the matter.
The Network has pursued millions more in federal subsidies. In 2023, it appealed to the Commons finance committee for $5 million in five-year funding to support its anti-fascist initiatives. The request was denied.
Josie Luetke, education director with Campaign Life, said the Ottawa Conference Centre had hosted the high schoolers’ conference for 18 years without issue.
She described the event as an opportunity to “bring Canadian teens and young adults together to encourage their active support for the sanctity of life and to educate them on life issues like abortion, euthanasia, and in-vitro fertilization.”