A Federal Court of Canada judge has ruled Rebel News cannot qualify for journalism tax credits because it does not create enough original content. In 2021, Rebel News completed an online application for qualified Canadian journalism organization (QCJO) status. A Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) official said it would meet the criteria for QCJO designation, except it did not produce enough original content. “Rebel has not satisfied me that the CRA Decision is unreasonable on the grounds that the assessment of originality of news content was confined to a consideration of news reporting during a three-week period or that the news content for this period was not reasonably considered,” said Federal Court Justice Ann Marie McDonald in a Wednesday ruling. The official found less than 1% of the stories reviewed were original news content. In 2022, the CRA Advisory Board on Eligibility for Journalism Tax Measures (ABEJTM) issued a recommendation agreeing with the conclusions of the official, noting Rebel’s content focused on and promoted one perspective.In response, the CRA said it was ineligible for QCJO status. Rebel requested a reconsideration of this decision. The CRA requested Rebel identify a consecutive three-week period of digital content for each news-related website to be reviewed for the assessment of original news content. It replied with Jan. 30 to Feb. 19, 2022 as the three-week period for review.The three-week news content sample considered by the CRA included 423 stories. Of this, the official who did the second review found 283 of the stories were not based on facts and did not pursue multiple perspectives. Another 135 stories were identified as being curated content or material rewritten from other sources, which violated its guidelines. It found 10 of the 423 stories could be considered original news content.Despite Rebel’s objections to the CRA’s classification of its stories, it has not identified any that were overlooked. It did not say a three-week news cycle is too short to assess them. For an organization that actively publishes news, McDonald said three weeks “should be a sufficient time frame within which to demonstrate news generating activities.” She noted it was Rebel and not the CRA who selected the timeframe. It argued freedom of the press is recognized in the Canadian Bill of Rights and refusing QCJO status based on its perspectives and opinions violates Section 2b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It said the order in council establishing the ABEJTM acknowledged a proper democracy needs a strong, independent press. Since the QCJO affords tax benefits to eligible news businesses under the Online News Act, it said Canada has created a two-tiered journalism system where the Canadian government can control news outlets. It argued news outlets are not independent from government and reliant on and incentivized by it to conform to its standards. McDonald said the Charter argument is lacking foundation for three reasons. The first reason is this issue was not raised with the CRA directly.The second reason is it has not offered any evidence on how the CRA’s decision impedes the freedom of the press as alleged. Meanwhile, the third reason is it does not explain or offer any evidence on how the refusal of status impedes its ability to work or its freedom of the press.In closing, McDonald said the Charter argument is made without any supporting evidence. “THIS COURT’S JUDGMENT is that the judicial review is dismissed,” she said. “The Respondent is entitled to costs.” Rebel publisher Ezra Levant said in an interview with the Western Standard this “is not a proper matter for the government to decide.” “The decision by the hand-picked political committee of the Canada Revenue Agency was wrong,” said Levant. “Obviously we create news content every day.” Since it was born, it has produced more than 50,000 stories. He added a government deciding what is journalism is a violation of freedom of speech and the press. This ordeal comes after a federal judge ruled in December the lawn signs promoting a book opposing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau published by Rebel during the 2019 election campaign were subject to regulations under the Elections Act..Rebel News loses court battle over 'election signs'.Rebel challenged a $3,000 fine for not registering as a campaign advertiser.“The lawn signs were election advertising,” said Federal Court Justice Cecily Strickland.
