The Canadian Anti-Hate Network is pointing the finger at Blacklock’s Reporter after Conservative MPs questioned nearly $1 million in federal funding for the group’s operations.Evan Balgord, executive director of the federally subsidized network, said in a Montréal podcast Friday that he admired Blacklock’s as a journalist until it began reporting on his activities. “When I was a baby journalist I thought they were really cool,” he said. “Then responding to media requests from them, in my opinion it’s in such bad faith… they’re the Rebel News of reporting on Parliament Hill stuff.”The controversy escalated last week when Conservative MP Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, Alta.) challenged Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault about the funding during a Commons heritage committee hearing. Thomas cited Blacklock’s reporting showing the Anti-Hate Network targeted Catholics and pro-life Canadians..“You’re collecting tax dollars from people all across the country… and those dollars are being used towards an organization that’s actually spurring greater polarization,” Thomas said. “They’ve been funded by your department to the tune of almost $1 million and a portion of this money was used to hire what they’re calling an ‘investigative journalist’ to find stories about so-called far right groups — including Catholics and pro-life people.”Guilbeault said his department will review the funding. .“If it turns out the organization does not deserve to continue to receive federal funding it will be withdrawn,” he said.Blacklock’s has reported extensively on the Anti-Hate Network’s activities, including a 2024 booklet titled 40 Ways To Fight The Far Right, which identified Campaign Life in a list of “far right and hate movements” and encouraged counter-demonstrations against pro-life rallies. In 2024, the Network also contacted the Ottawa Conference Centre after it rented space to high school students attending a Campaign Life Youth Summit, claiming a guest speaker had made a “Roman or Nazi salute.”The Anti-Hate Network has repeatedly sought permanent federal funding, proposing in 2023 that Ottawa spend $5 million to create a “pro-democracy, anti-fascist and anti-hate culture” to prevent the far right from gaining a foothold. That request was denied.
