Go Ad Free

The Edmonton Police Service's hate-reporting campaign has been on city buses for about two years.

But when Rebel News asked for the police's records about it, the answer was one sentence long: "No responsive records were located."

Rebel News filed an Access to Information request with EPS for "all documents regarding the proposal, drafting and launching of the Edmonton Police's online hate bus advertising campaign." The request covered Jan. 1 to Aug. 5, 2026.

In a letter dated Sept. 11, the police's Information and Privacy Unit said it had checked with the EPS Corporate Communications Division. "No responsive records were located for the date range period from 2026 January 01 to and including 2026 August 05."

That's seven months, and not one email.

Two years on the road

The "See Hate. Report Hate." campaign launched in September 2024. It was led by Crime Stoppers of Edmonton and Northern Alberta, with the Edmonton Police Service as a partner. The Government of Alberta was a partner as well. The ads went up on Edmonton Transit.

The campaign asks residents to report "hate." That covers more than crimes. It includes "hate incidents," which the EPS Hate Motivated Occurrences Procedure defines as "a non-criminal action."

In other words, the police's logo and reporting line have been on city buses for two years. Yet the police say no one in their communications division wrote a single record about the campaign in the first seven months of this year.

Nobody asked whether it was still running. Nobody asked whether it was working, or whether it was worth keeping. Not even a scheduling email.

Not even during the backlash

In early August, a photo of the bus went viral. Juno News reported on Aug. 4 that EPS was being "called out over bus with snitch hotline banner."

At the time, the Edmonton Police were already under fire for their online hate video. Premier Danielle Smith and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis had both criticized the force publicly.

The search Rebel News requested ran to Aug. 5.

Separate EPS records obtained by Rebel News show communications staff were hard at work that week. On Aug. 4, they circulated a "Hate campaign media statement for review."

About the bus, apparently nothing.

46 pages on the video, none on the bus

On the same day it sent the bus letter, the same EPS office released 46 pages of emails about the online hate video.

Those records name at least a dozen EPS employees. One producer celebrated the finished video with "YEEEEEaaaah!" A senior executive wrote: "Well done!"

A July 8 email in that file describes a meeting between the Office of the Chief of Police and the Mayor's Chief of Staff. The subject was "joint efforts between the Chief and the Mayor to address growing concerns with hate in our community."

That email also discusses a "consequent public awareness campaign," and whether the City of Edmonton "may want to be involved."

The police were planning a new public awareness campaign on hate with the city that runs the buses. Their existing hate ad was already riding around on those same buses. And according to EPS, nobody in communications mentioned it once.

So which is it?

EPS may argue the bus campaign belongs to Crime Stoppers, not the police.

But the police are a named partner. Their hotline is on the ads. And the force was running a high-profile hate campaign of its own at the same time.

That leaves three possibilities:

• The Edmonton Police put their name on a campaign and never checked on it again.
• The conversations happened somewhere the police didn't search.
• The records exist, and they weren't released.

None of those is good.

What's next

The EPS letter notes that the decision can be appealed to Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner within 60 days.

Rebel News is also seeking records from the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Transit on the ad bookings and contracts. Somebody is paying for that space.

They want transparency from you

The Edmonton Police want you to report your neighbours for words that aren't even crimes.

But ask them about their own hate hotline, the one that has been on the side of city buses for two years, and suddenly there's nothing on file.

They want transparency from you. They don't offer any in return.