The Federal Leader’s Debates Commission has settled a defamation lawsuit out of court with Rebel News Network Ltd. for $8,500.
The payment was disclosed in Public Accounts tabled in Parliament, listed under the heading Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, according to documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
In 2019 and 2021, Rebel News was refused participation in federal election campaign debates, and judges later determined that the news outlet had been blacklisted by the Debates Commission based on arbitrary criteria in both instances.
The Commission’s executive director, Michel Cormier, formerly a reporter with CBC, stated in his affidavit that the Commission had to ensure “high journalistic standards for the leaders’ debates” as an explanation for Rebel reporters being denied access to the debates.
The outlet first began proceedings for a judicial review after the Commission refused to accredit Rebel News reporters from attending election debates in 2019. Rebel noted in court documents filed on Sept. 3, 2021, that its reporters had been excluded on the eve of the debates, preventing them from filing legal action in time to cover the debates.
‘Arbitrarily Targeted’
Justice Russell Zinn ruled in favour of Rebel News and noted the Commission’s decision to ban the media outlet lacked “discernible rationality and logic.” The ruling went on to call the Commission’s actions “troubling,” “unreasonable,” and “procedurally unfair.”“The Commission rejected every Journalist for which Rebel News had applied for Accreditation,” it said, adding the exclusion came four business days before the debates, again impacting the ability to appeal or seek court intervention.
According to Rebel News, the reasons for rejection listed by the Commission for blacklisting its reporters included that Rebel News engaged in crowdfunding, litigation, organizing petitions, and had filed formal complaints, all of which the Commission deemed was a conflict of interest.
“The commission is mandated to protect the public interest and this extends to the accreditation process. The independence of the Commission does not relieve it from the obligation to act fairly,” she wrote.
Heneghan said Rebel News had a strong case that it was “arbitrarily targeted” and was subjected to “irreparable harm in terms of being prevented from participation in the political process, on behalf of the electorate. There is room in the nation for the expression of opposing points of view,” she said.
She concluded that Rebel News did not ask to “impose its views,” but merely sought the “opportunity to participate in coverage of matters of importance during a federal election.”
“Well, between 2019 and 2021, Trudeau’s lawyers worked tirelessly to try to strengthen their defences against Rebel News. They read the 2019 court ruling carefully and tried to remove all of the court’s objections. They published very detailed rules for getting in—unlike 2019, where they published none.
“Instead of giving us a one-line rejection, they sent us each an 11-page rejection letter. They must have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers. But—miracle of miracle—we beat them again.”
On May 12, Debates Commissioner David Johnston, a former governor general, testified before a government committee that changes to the Commision need to be made in the future to better serve the public.
“There was widespread agreement the 2021 debates did not deliver as well as they should have. The two major weaknesses identified were format and moderation,” he said.
The defamation settlement with Rebel News was not mentioned.
