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The Right-Wing Albertans Behind BC Election Ads

West Coast Proud’s unmasked activities show the need for advertiser transparency, say experts.

Zak Vescera 16 Oct 2024IJF / The Tyee

Zak Vescera is a staff reporter for the Investigative Journalism Foundation after serving as The Tyee’s labour reporter.

[Editor’s note: This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and The Tyee.]

A network of influential Alberta conservatives is linked to a social media page that spent tens of thousands of dollars on political advertisements in the lead-up to British Columbia’s election.

Between July and September, the page “West Coast Proud” spent more than $47,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads, many attacking the incumbent BC NDP and promoting the BC Conservatives. It resumed paying for similar advertisements late last week, days before British Columbians head to the polls.

The Meta Ad Library, which published the spending estimate, said some of those advertisements were viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

But the identity of the people behind West Coast Proud — and the source of the money — was a mystery.

The page doesn’t list affiliated staff or directors. Neither does an associated website, which describes the group as “the voice of those who are proud of B.C.'s past, and hopeful for its future.”

But the Investigative Journalism Foundation and The Tyee have learned the group’s origins are not in B.C., but in neighbouring Alberta.

West Coast Proud is connected to Modern Miracle Network, an Alberta organization advocating for the oil and gas sector that has donated to similar “proud” groups across Canada.

When reporters contacted West Coast Proud with questions, the person who responded was Andrew Crooks, an Alberta lawyer and longtime conservative political activist who chairs the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

Crooks, who also serves on the Alberta Municipal Government Board and the province’s addictions advisory council, is perhaps best known as a signee of the 2001 “firewall letter” that called for Alberta to assert more independence from the federal government.

Crooks wrote that West Coast Proud “are following all B.C. elections laws and will file all required reports with disclosures of election advertising spending and donors in due course.”

But Crooks did not answer questions about what his role with West Coast Proud was, if he was a B.C. resident or the source of the $47,000 the page had spent on advertisements.

Elections BC said in a written statement that it is reviewing complaints about West Coast Proud’s advertising.

West Coast Proud is part of a network of similar social media pages across Canada that have been active in supporting Conservative candidates in federal elections.

Experts interviewed for this story said the page’s activities raise questions about the role third parties play in influencing elections.

“The important values in any democracy are that we want to know, in our political conversations, who is taking part in those conversations and who is putting money into these campaigns to amplify particular messages,” said University of British Columbia political science professor Stewart Prest.

The advertisements

West Coast Proud began posting on Facebook in 2019. The next year, it was incorporated as a federal non-profit, with a stated goal of promoting “fiscally responsible policies, resource development and their benefits to Canada.” That non-profit was dissolved earlier this year, according to corporate filings.

The page, which has accrued about 16,000 Facebook followers, posts a mix of innocuous memes and right-wing commentary. It has roughly 10,000 followers on Instagram.

In July, the page began spending thousands of dollars on advertisements critiquing the BC NDP and supporting the BC Conservatives, who were then jockeying with the BC United party for the province’s right-wing vote.

West Coast Proud’s ads sometimes praised the Conservative Party of BC’s leader, John Rustad, and urged viewers to rally behind him, calling the upcoming election “a two-horse race.”

A social media ad shows a serious-looking John Rustad, a man with light skin, grey hair and glasses, with the words 'BC Conservatives’ New Plan against Crime' on a light blue background.
An example of a recent advertisement published by West Coast Proud. Image via West Coast Proud on Facebook.

The page also began paying for more than 40 new advertisements last week, including an Oct. 11 post promoting the BC Conservatives’ crime policy. The Meta Ad Library has not yet published an estimate on how much was spent on those advertisements.

Other advertisements discussed key issues in the election like housing, health care and drug use.

One advertisement said B.C. Premier David Eby “can’t fix affordable housing.” Another ad featured a picture of a lit crack pipe and contained the label “Put an end to Eby’s madness.”

Another advertisement appeared to contain a Punjabi-language translation of a news report about a recent random murder in downtown Vancouver.

West Coast Proud’s website, which also solicits donations and says it recruits volunteers, does not list any staff. The email address and phone number for the page provided by the Meta Ad Library are both defunct.

But the page does publicly acknowledge it is part of a group of similar social media pages called the Canada Strong and Free Network based in Calgary.

A social media ad sponsored by West Coast Proud asks, 'Are drugs killing your community?' The text 'This isn't alright. But this is?' appears above a photo of a lit cigarette on the left and a photo of someone holding a crack pipe over a lighter on the right. Below this reads, 'Put an end to Eby’s madness.'
A screenshot of a West Coast Proud ad criticizing the BC NDP's policies on drug use. Screenshot via West Coast Proud on Facebook.

Those pages — which include West Coast Proud, Québec Fier, Proudly New Brunswick and others — have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in recent federal elections targeting Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Disclosures from Elections Canada show that much of that money came from the Modern Miracle Network and the Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly known as the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

Disclosures from 2019 and 2021 show those two organizations donated over $450,000 to four different “proud” pages during those elections.

They also donated $15,000 to Proudly New Brunswick during that province’s election in 2018, according to New Brunswick’s election regulator.

Michael Binnion, who is both a director of the Modern Miracle Network and the chair of the Canada Strong and Free Network, said that the Modern Miracle Network “have not contributed to West Coast Proud or any other organization for political advertising,” which would violate B.C.’s campaign laws. B.C. allows only individual residents — not corporations or other organizations — to donate to third-party advertisers.

There is no evidence the Modern Miracle Network has made such a donation to West Coast Proud.

Binnion, who is also the founder of Calgary-based Questerre Energy, did not directly respond to questions about whether the Modern Miracle Network had supported West Coast Proud in other ways or if there is a relationship between the groups.

The IJF and The Tyee spoke to three people who previously worked with the Canada Strong and Free Network. All said there was overlap between that group and the Modern Miracle Network.

In its registration with Elections BC, West Coast Proud listed a Calgary-area phone number. The IJF and The Tyee confirmed that number belongs to Susan Burrows, the CFO of the Modern Miracle Network and a registered director of Québec Fier, that province’s equivalent of West Coast Proud.

The IJF also obtained emails from Burrows showing she was involved in the administration of West Coast Proud as recently as 2023. In those emails, she identifies herself as the Modern Miracle Network’s CFO.

Crooks said that Burrows — who did not respond to texts and phone calls seeking comment — had been hired by West Coast Proud as an accountant.

“Her employment relationship allows me to participate freely in any endeavour, as we believe in liberty and freedom,” Crooks wrote. He did not respond to a question asking him to elaborate on that comment.

Robert Neubauer, a professor at the University of Winnipeg's department of rhetoric, writing and communications, has closely studied groups like Canada Strong and Free. He said such groups, while notionally separate, often co-ordinate resources during campaigns.

“These groups are very plugged into regional conservative parties and they are very elections-focused. They are not just interested in boosting themselves for clicks,” Neubauer said.

Neubauer said advertisements like those published by West Coast Proud can help push public discourse toward certain topics by affecting what social media users see online.

“It’s going to give people a false sense of what people in their community believed, and that in effect will actually change what people in that community believe,” Neubauer said.

The Conservative Party of BC did not respond to questions about West Coast Proud’s advertisements.

In a written statement, BC NDP provincial director Heather Stoutenburg argued the advertisements were proof “big business” was supporting the BC Conservatives.

‘Cat and mouse’

Some observers say groups like West Coast Proud raise questions about the growing role third-party advertisers play in elections.

In 2017, B.C.’s government amended campaign finance laws to prohibit unions or corporations from donating to candidates.

However, such organizations can still register as third-party advertisers, after which they can legally spend up to roughly $185,000 on advertisements.

Crooks, in his email, said West Coast Proud was raising money from B.C. residents. He did not respond to questions about the source of the $47,000 it had spent on advertisements.

Duff Conacher, a co-founder of Ottawa-based non-profit Democracy Watch, is concerned about how other “proud” groups have reported their spending.

In 2019, the Globe and Mail reported that the Canada Strong and Free Network raised and donated $300,000 to “proud” social media pages.

Conacher argued that allowed donors to secretly finance political advertising without disclosing their names, as is usually required.

“The Canada Elections Act requires third parties to identify sources of funds of their contributors, but if the source is an organization, the organization doesn’t have to identify the original source of the funds,” Conacher said.

There is no evidence West Coast Proud has received donations from other organizations for political advertising. Adam Bolek, president of the Canada Strong and Free Network, said in an emailed statement that he was “not aware of any activity or partnerships involving these groups.”

West Coast Proud is far from the only third-party advertiser hoping to influence B.C.’s elections.

Unions like the Canadian Union of Public Employees BC Division and the Hospital Employees’ Union, for example, have been running advertisements in support of the BC NDP. HEU secretary-business manager Lynn Bueckert confirmed in an email that the union was running radio, television and print media ads.

Conacher, though, said the difference is that the source of the HEU’s funding is clearer than it is for organizations like West Coast Proud.

“The public has a right to know who is bankrolling this kind of advocacy,” Conacher said.

Prest, the UBC political science professor, says electoral regulators across Canada are in a game of “cat and mouse” with interested parties finding new ways to influence election outcomes.

In 2022, a group called the Pacific Prosperity Network that was financially supported by Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson ran advertising campaigns in a number of local elections, particularly in Vancouver. The group was later fined $1,000 by Elections BC — not enough, Prest said, to effectively discourage such activity.

“We have the possibility — or at least the perception — that our conversations are being influenced by outside actors, or by actors that are not playing by the rules,” Prest said.


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