The federal Leaders’ Debates Commission says it will no longer attempt to decide who qualifies as a journalist after being twice rebuked by the Federal Court for blacklisting reporters from Rebel News.“It is neither the Commission’s role nor its responsibility to attempt to legally define what constitutes journalism,” the agency said in a new report to Parliament titled Debates: Democratic Exercises Serving The Voting Public. “This is a wider societal issue and the leaders’ debates are not the forum in which to litigate this.”Blacklock's Reporter said the statement marks the end of a years-long dispute that saw Rebel News repeatedly excluded from covering national election debates. The outlet successfully challenged its exclusion in 2019 and 2021, with judges calling the Commission’s actions “unreasonable,” “procedurally unfair,” and “troubling.”.The Commission finally accredited Rebel reporters in 2025 but drew criticism from legacy media figures. CBC’s Rosemary Barton accused Rebel of “trafficking in misinformation” during an April broadcast — a comment the CBC Ombudsman later forced her to correct.In its report, the Commission admitted there was no agreement among media groups on what qualifies as journalism or a journalist. It consulted the Canadian Association of Journalists, CBC, CPAC, the Parliamentary Press Gallery, and the Independent Press Gallery, which accredits Rebel. “There was no consensus,” the report said. “Journalism is not a regulated profession like law or medicine, and there is no legal definition that could be upheld in court.”.Critics, including the Green Party — currently challenging its own exclusion from the 2025 debates — have called for the Commission to be scrapped entirely.Prime Minister Mark Carney defended the agency, saying politicians should stay out of its decisions. “It’s for the beneficiaries of the debates, which is the Canadian people,” Carney said. “I think there’s value in having an independent body that sets the rules.”The Debates Commission was created in 2018 by cabinet to take control of national leaders’ debates from television networks. Its executive director, Michel Cormier, is a former CBC manager.
