Arson suspect appears in court after shocking New Brunswick church burning

The Saint-Simon Church was destroyed in what authorities are describing as a targeted arson attack on August 24.

I’m here in Bathurst, New Brunswick, where Gilles Mallet — the man accused of burning down Saint-Simon Church on the Acadian Peninsula — is scheduled to appear in court today to enter a plea. The church, built in 1917, is believed to have been the largest wooden church in the province.

I travelled all the way from Montreal to follow up on this story, which is getting crazier every day. And by the way, I took the smallest plane of my life to get here. I got really scared because of the massive turbulence — but I’m alive!

Believe me, if I could have driven, I would have driven myself, but it is roughly a 10-hour drive from Montreal.

It is also not cheap to travel to Bathurst by plane. And something I didn’t know before arriving here: I couldn’t rent a car.

So now I will need to take a taxi all the way to Saint-Simon, which is about an hour away from here, to visit the church and speak with members of the local French-speaking community.

If you can, please go to SaveOurChurches.ca and donate generously to support our commitment to reporting on attacks against Christian churches happening across Canada.

More than 100 churches have either been vandalized or burned since the false claim that 215 unmarked graves were found at the former Kamloops residential school.

To date, no remains have been exhumed from the specific site identified through the ground-penetrating radar findings. You can watch my colleague Drea Humphrey’s extensive investigation into that story.

Also, don’t miss Rebel Commander Ezra Levant’s deep dive into Gilles Mallet and the alleged radicalization he was subjected to.

I will have an extensive report coming with even more untold details about this story — and believe me, it is shocking.

Now, the court has imposed a very strict publication ban, so I will be limited in terms of the information I am legally able to provide about what happens inside the courtroom.

But I am here on the ground to speak with locals and investigate this story further — despite already knowing quite a lot about it.

Stay tuned for my full report at SaveOurChurches.ca. And please chip in if you can, so we can continue shedding light on anti-Christian bigotry and attacks happening across the country.

Please donate to support our investigation into Canada's church arsons!

Getting Alexandra Lavoie from Montreal to Bathurst, New Brunswick, to cover the Saint-Simon Church arson case took a puddle-jumper flight, a pricey economy fare, and — since there wasn't a rental car to be found — a taxi to finish the job. Add motels, gas, and coffee for the road, and it's clear this kind of journalism isn't cheap. Chip in to help cover our reporters' travel costs so Rebel News can keep showing up where the CBC won't.

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Alexandra Lavoie

Quebec based Journalist

Alexa graduated with a degree in biology from Laval University. Throughout her many travels, she has seen political instability as well as corruption. While she witnessed social disorder on a daily basis, she has always been a defender of society’s most vulnerable. She’s been around the world several times, and now joins Rebel News to shed light on today’s biggest stories.

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-09-08 19:53:47 -0400
    I always donate generously. And I’m glad Rebel News is exposing these deluded and brainwashed folks. Who appointed them the avengers of social wrongs?