“Canada will always defend this right.”Finance Minister Chrystia Freeeland.Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had no comment on the arrest of a Rebel News reporter even though she had previously said any journalist could ask her any question “without fear of retaliation.”Blacklock’s Reporter dug up a series of quotes dating as far back as 2015 from the former journalist and newspaper executive who insisted “journalists must have the ability to report facts freely, to defend, expose and advance the truth without fear of retaliation, reprisal, violence or imprisonment.”In 2019 she vowed: “Canada will always defend this right.”.“Journalists must have the ability to report facts freely, to defend, expose and advance the truth without fear of retaliation, reprisal, violence or imprisonment.”Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.That’s despite the fact Rebel News reporter David Menzies was roughed up and hauled away by four plainclothes police officers while she stood and watched on a Richmond Hill street on Monday.His crime?Asking the finance minister two questions over cabinet’s refusal to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization in Canada. The Commons justice committee in a December 6 report Measures To Protect Canadians recommended blacklisting under the Criminal Code with the expulsion of “the estimated 700 Iranian agents operating in Canada.”.“All journalists in Canada and abroad are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them is essential.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Minister Freeland did not answer the questions, going against her 2015 Ministerial Mandate letter from the Prime Minister. In it, he wrote: “All journalists in Canada and abroad are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them is essential.”“It is important that we acknowledge mistakes when we make them,” it continues. “Canadians do not expect us to be perfect. They expect us to be honest, open and sincere in our efforts to serve the public interest.”The federal cabinet routinely boycotts questions from Rebel News. The Federal Court has twice censured the cabinet-appointed Leaders’ Debates Commission for arbitrarily barring Rebel reporters from attending election events.“There is room in the nation for the expression of opposing points of view,” Federal Justice Elizabeth Heneghan wrote in a 2022 ruling that struck the Rebel ban. The news outlet “did not ask to impose its views but for the opportunity to participate in coverage of matters of importance during a federal election,” wrote Heneghan.
“Canada will always defend this right.”Finance Minister Chrystia Freeeland.Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had no comment on the arrest of a Rebel News reporter even though she had previously said any journalist could ask her any question “without fear of retaliation.”Blacklock’s Reporter dug up a series of quotes dating as far back as 2015 from the former journalist and newspaper executive who insisted “journalists must have the ability to report facts freely, to defend, expose and advance the truth without fear of retaliation, reprisal, violence or imprisonment.”In 2019 she vowed: “Canada will always defend this right.”.“Journalists must have the ability to report facts freely, to defend, expose and advance the truth without fear of retaliation, reprisal, violence or imprisonment.”Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.That’s despite the fact Rebel News reporter David Menzies was roughed up and hauled away by four plainclothes police officers while she stood and watched on a Richmond Hill street on Monday.His crime?Asking the finance minister two questions over cabinet’s refusal to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization in Canada. The Commons justice committee in a December 6 report Measures To Protect Canadians recommended blacklisting under the Criminal Code with the expulsion of “the estimated 700 Iranian agents operating in Canada.”.“All journalists in Canada and abroad are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them is essential.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Minister Freeland did not answer the questions, going against her 2015 Ministerial Mandate letter from the Prime Minister. In it, he wrote: “All journalists in Canada and abroad are professionals who, by asking necessary questions, contribute in an important way to the democratic process. Your professionalism and engagement with them is essential.”“It is important that we acknowledge mistakes when we make them,” it continues. “Canadians do not expect us to be perfect. They expect us to be honest, open and sincere in our efforts to serve the public interest.”The federal cabinet routinely boycotts questions from Rebel News. The Federal Court has twice censured the cabinet-appointed Leaders’ Debates Commission for arbitrarily barring Rebel reporters from attending election events.“There is room in the nation for the expression of opposing points of view,” Federal Justice Elizabeth Heneghan wrote in a 2022 ruling that struck the Rebel ban. The news outlet “did not ask to impose its views but for the opportunity to participate in coverage of matters of importance during a federal election,” wrote Heneghan.
