Scheer's close ties to Rebel Media and the alt-right
Scheer's close ties to Rebel Media and the alt-right
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/10/02/analysis/will-andrew-scheer-ruin-canada
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Yet Scheer could hardly claim ignorance in failing to recognize Rebel’s racist, white nationalist pedigree. Long before 2017, Levant had lost numerous libel lawsuits for defaming a wide range of people, especially for attacking visible minorities, Muslims and prominent members of the Jewish community (he once claimed that billionaire financier George Soros had collaborated with the Nazis as a child).
Moreover, the most important person stickhandling Scheer’s political career is Hamish Marshall, his campaign manager. A University of Toronto and Oxford-educated strategist who worked in Stephen Harper’s PMO, Marshall is considered the brains behind Scheer’s rise to prominence. “He’s a super smart guy,” says Warren Kinsella, a Toronto-based political consultant. “He’s a great numbers guy, a great data guy…He should not be underestimated.”
But Marshall also played a key role in establishing Rebel Media and keeping it financially afloat. Marshall worked with Levant back when Levant launched the “Ethical Oil” astroturf campaign to extol the virtues of the oil sands (Marshall’s wife, Kathryn, became Ethical Oil’s spokesperson).
Marshall ran a communications company called Torch Agency, who wrote the source code for Rebel’s website design. Marshall also helped develop Rebel’s business model, and his name appears as a director for Rebel News Network Ltd. going back to 2016. He listed his business address as that of Rebel headquarters in Toronto — from where he worked on Scheer’s leadership campaign. The website’s donation pages and fundraising operation were also designed by Marshall’s firm.
This sort of flirtation with alt-right and bigoted sensibilities has been long part of Scheer’s historical milieu.
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