Far-right Rebel News not eligible for journalism tax credits, Federal Court rules

By The Canadian Press on September 19, 2024.

Outspoken political commentator Ezra Levant of Rebel News arrives at the Law Society of Alberta in Calgary on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. A Federal Court judge has upheld the government's decision that far-right media outlet Rebel News doesn't qualify for journalism tax credits because it doesn't produce enough original news. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

OTTAWA – A Federal Court judge has upheld the government’s decision that far-right media outlet Rebel News doesn’t qualify for journalism tax credits because it doesn’t produce enough original content.

Rebel News applied in May 2021 to be designated as a qualified Canadian journalism organization, but was rejected by the Canada Revenue Agency, which found that less than one per cent of its content was original news.

The outlet sought a judicial review in Federal Court, but in a decision Wednesday, Justice Ann Marie McDonald found the agency’s decision was reasonable.

McDonald’s ruling notes that the revenue agency assessed 423 news reports from Rebel News and found that only 10 were original.

She says the rest were not based on facts and didn’t include multiple perspectives, or were curated content or material rewritten from other sources.

The official designation allows news outlets to claim the Canadian journalism labour tax credit and their subscribers to claim the digital news subscription tax credit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.