Freeland on Rebel News Arrest: Politicians Have ‘No Role’ in Police Matters

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland speaks during a news conference on the next phase of the government’s economic plan at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on Nov. 28, 2023. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Politicians have no input on police operations, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said when asked to comment on the arrest of a journalist this week who was asking her questions.

“Canada is a rule of law country, Canada is a democracy, operational decisions about law enforcement are taken by the police of jurisdiction, quite appropriately, political elected officials have no role in the taking of those decisions,” Ms. Freeland said during a Jan. 11 press conference in Toronto. “And that’s why I don’t have any further comment on it,” she added.

A reporter asked the minister to address the arrest of Rebel News journalist David Menzies by her RCMP security detail on Jan. 8.

Ms. Freeland did not immediately answer and instead spoke about the event she was attending in Richmond Hill, to honour the victims of Flight PS752 shot down by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 2020. All occupants were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

“What was important about Monday, Jan. 8, was that it was the fourth anniversary of a date that I think forever needs to be marked and circled in black, on the calendar of all Canadians,” she said.

Outside the Jan. 8 event, video captured by Rebel News shows Mr. Menzies approaching Ms. Freeland to ask her why the government has not listed the IRGC as a terrorist group. “Why is your government supporting islamo-nationalism?” he adds.

Ms. Freeland did not respond and a plain clothes RCMP officer blocked Mr. Menzies’ path, saying he’s being arrested for assault.

Mr. Menzies was taken into custody by York Regional Police but was later released without charge.

Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant said he plans to sue Ms. Freeland, the RCMP, and York Police for “false arrest,” “false imprisonment,” “malicious prosecution,” and “assault.”

The RCMP told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement it is looking into the incident “and the actions of all parties involved.”

The arrest has drawn widespread reactions from politicians and personalities in both Canada and other countries.

Conservatives have sought to hold a committee meeting over the issue, but the attempt was blocked by the Bloc Québécois and the NDP.

Tory MP Marilyn Gladu is also calling on the government to address the events of Jan. 8.

“Thus far, the Trudeau Liberals have not condemned this unjust arrest,” she said in a Jan. 9 letter posted on X. “Outrageously, this government has created a climate where journalists can face criminal charges for demanding answers on critical subjects. By doing so they are seeking to limit the right of Canadians to freedom of expression. This is unacceptable.”

Business magnate Elon Musk commented on the matter on his X platform, saying it’s “fine for the officer to body block someone trying to get close to a senior government official, but false to say that he deliberately assaulted an officer.”

This was not Mr. Menzies first run-in with RCMP protective services, which manhandled him outside an event Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was attending in Toronto in December 2021.

“So fast and so vicious was the assault that I never even caught a glimpse of the PM,” Mr. Menzies wrote in his account of the event, which was also caught on video.

Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.