Alberta gov't has spent in excess of $16M on COVID-related advertising

The government will not divulge the companies that benefited from their enormous pandemic ad spend, in exclusive access to information documents obtained by Rebel News. The government held back the data citing rules that prevent the release of information that may harm the financial interests of the government.

Jason Kenney's government spent $14,258,852 on COVID messaging from March 2020 until the end of May 2022. Another $785,000 was spent on vaccine uptake promotion over the same time frame bringing the total to $16,340,170.

However, the names of the media companies and contractors who were recipients of the advertising spending were withheld, under section 25. 1 (a) of the information law which protects the government from divulging data which may cause financial harm:

The head of a public body may refuse to disclose information to an applicant if the disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the economic interest of a public body or the government of Alberta or the ability of the government to manage the economy, including the following information:

The financial, commercial, scientific, technical, or other information in which a public body or the government of Alberta has a proprietary interest or right to use and that has or is reasonably likely to have a monetary value.

Divulging the names of the media companies that were given favourable contracts won't cause the government financial harm, but it might cause some reputational damage. That's still not a valid reason to block access.

We are appealing. The government doesn't get to spend our money in secrecy.

You can read the documents for yourself here:

Unlike the media companies in Alberta getting lucrative COVID contracts, Rebel News takes no money from any level of government. To support our efforts to appeal the redactions of these hidden MSM contracts, please visit www.RebelInvestigates.com to make a donation today.