Saturday, April 19
Yesterday started in Montreal, and 12 hours later I was sitting by a fire on Salt Spring Island. Today I’ll be meeting up with Elizabeth May and attending an all-candidates meeting in her riding of Saanich and Gulf Islands, and in the evening I’ll catch up with Jagmeet Singh while he campaigns with incumbent MP Laurel Collins in Victoria.
On Thursday night there was a national leader’s debate, and as you may have heard, there were some issues. I was there, and I’ve got my own strongly held feelings. As you may have heard, I gave Ezra Levant a real piece of my mind. And I stand by those comments.
But if there’s one thing that’s stuck with me as the aftermath unfolded, it is the importance of holding the line for facts, in the face of those who would manufacture their own.
So here’s what I know. A group of some dozen journalists from what they describe as the Independent Press Gallery were accredited to cover the French and English debates in Montreal. This included a group of five from Rebel News, Ezra Levant’s outfit, and former Rebel employees and folks in their orbit from like-minded websites.
There was a rule that each outlet could designate only one journalist to ask questions in the post-debate Q&A, but Ezra threatened to sue and the debate commission folded. Rebel ended up getting four questions after the French debate — along with others from fellow travellers like Keean Bexte, a former Rebel employee who Ricochet exposed as one of the operators of a white supremacist web store back in 2019— and used them to make long-winded statements largely focused on attacking Liberal leader Mark Carney.
Then, on Thursday, before the English debate even started, according to reporting by the CBC’s David Cochrane, Ezra and some of his associates used their media status to enter a secure area and crashed the CBC’s live broadcast, forcing them to go off air. This caused a security lockdown of the entire site, and led to Ezra being taken aside for questioning. He was then allowed to return to the media room.
Prior to the debate starting, there was also an exchange between Hill Times journalist Stuart Benson and Keean Bexte, which ended up expanding to include Ezra. Bexte and Ezra were doing what they do best: needling someone in the hope of provoking a reaction.
Shortly before the debate ended, word spread in the media room that the Q&A session was to be cancelled. The debate commission blamed the cancellation on an inability to guarantee everyone’s safety, and journalist Mercedes Stephenson reported that sources told her it was a result of the Rebel team’s antics.
After the debate ended, I sarcastically applauded Ezra and blamed him for preventing journalists from doing their jobs, depriving the public of answers to the important questions we would have asked. He came over to harangue me, mocking me for a physical tremor I’ve had for years and trying to get a rise out of me. Bexte would later mock me for being “obese” on social media. A classy group, all around.
I don’t want to waste any more time on people whose goal is confrontation and chaos, but I do think there’s one more point that should be highlighted.
Both Rebel and another group owned by Ezra, called “ForCanada,” are registered with Elections Canada as third-party advertisers, which means they’re spending money to try and influence how people vote. During the debates, an ad truck operated by “For Canada” circled the venue with ads attacking Mark Carney. The two groups share an owner in Ezra and have the same auditor and financial agent.
The question of who is and is not a journalist is fraught, and I’m no more eager to see the government determine that than Ezra. But when it comes to election campaigns I hope we can all agree that people who are registered with Elections Canada as participants in the campaign cannot simultaneously be journalists reporting on it. Especially when their third-party is circling the venue with attack ads against one of the candidates.
And while Ezra bleats about how the legacy media are in the bag for Carney, it’s hard to avoid the word projection. After all, Ezra has known Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for decades, serving as his mentor and collaborator on various campaigns.
Then, on the most important night of Poilievre’s life, Ezra showed up like a wrecking ball.
In any case, one thing is for sure, the three-ring circus for which I had a front-row seat on Thursday is incredibly good at raising money. If diligent, thorough, fact-based outlets can’t figure out how to appeal to better to donors, we may be left with little else than Rebel and friends.
Right now, Ricochet has a team of all-star, award-winning journalists travelling across Canada to bring you stories that go beyond the headlines. Journalists like Stephen Maher, Brandi Morin, Adrian Harewood, Karyn Pugliese, Jon Thompson and myself — as well as up-and-coming journalists like Sophia de Guzman Rivadeiro and Konnor Killorn helping with TikTok and socials.
Over the course of this campaign we will have spent tens of thousands of dollars to do real journalism. That expenditure has been made possible by the generous support of the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund, but we’ll be dipping into our reserves to spend thousands more.
You can help support and encourage our reporting, during this campaign and beyond, by becoming a monthly donor to Ricochet. After all, nothing would make Ezra angrier than to know his circus drove donors to support our journalism.
The Independent Press Gallery condemns the unjustified suppression of press freedom during the English-language Leaders Debate
On behalf of the Independent Press Gallery (IPG) and our
accredited members, we express our grave concern over the abrupt and
unexplained cancellation of Thursday night’s post-debate press scrum
following the English-language leaders’ debate.
The Leaders’ Debates Commission — a publicly funded body with a mandate to serve the public interest and uphold journalistic independence — failed on both fronts. All IPG journalists present, were accredited through your own established process.
Despite this, some of our members were harassed, singled out, and verbally abused by other accredited journalists, simply for exercising their right to ask questions. The Commission chose to cancel the scrum rather than confront this unprofessional conduct — effectively punishing all media and Canadian voters to appease a few.
It is also unacceptable that Commissioner Michel Cormier appeared on a CBC broadcast before the scrum’s cancellation, fielding questions that disparaged independent journalists, and remarking there is only “so much we can do to control free speech.” It is not the Commissioner’s role to control speech — it is to protect the diversity of it.
Your mandate clearly states a commitment to the “principles of independence, impartiality, transparency, credibility and democratic citizenship.”
Suppressing the post-debate scrum and excluding non-legacy journalists contradicts these principles and infringes upon Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of the press and the right to gather news without undue interference.
We therefore formally request:
- A full explanation for the cancellation of the press scrum;
- An apology to independent journalists who were mistreated;
- A public reaffirmation of the Commission’s commitment to equal access and press freedom;
- A review of the conduct of accredited journalists who undermined the spirit of fair and open media access.
The Canadian public deserves transparency — not censorship. We, the undersigned await your response.
Respectfully,
Sheila Gunn Reid, President, Independent Press Gallery of Canada
Candice Malcolm, Publisher, Juno News
William McBeath, Executive Director, True North Wire
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, Managing Editor, True North Wire
Ezra Levant, Publisher, Rebel News
Derek Fildebrandt, Publisher, Western Standard
Keean Bexte, Publisher, The Counter Signal
Canadian Alliance Federal Leadership Debate – Vancouver, February 2002
Candidates
vie to become leader of the Canadian Alliance by presenting their
stances on various topics, beginning with issues related to same-sex
relationships. Other issues discussed include media convergence in
Canada, appealing to voters in Quebec, and the Canadian Alliance vision
for Canada. The contenders are Grant Hill, Stockwell Day, Stephen
Harper, and Diane Ablonczy.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/ezra-plays-the-fool/article753779/
Ezra plays the fool
The saga surrounding Calgary Southwest is making a lot of people look bad.
New Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper's failure to persuade Ezra Levant to give up the party's nomination in the riding, to make way for Mr. Harper, suggests he has no control over his foot soldiers. It's a rookie mistake he could ill afford, given his predecessor's notorious failings in this area.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien looks small and mean-spirited in taking advantage of the squabble to quickly call a by-election in this and six other ridings. Mr. Chrétien's backroom minions must be congratulating each other for squeezing Mr. Harper into a tight corner and maybe keeping him out of the House of Commons for a few extra months. But the manoeuvre runs counter to our sense of fair play, and makes Mr. Chrétien look like a smug oligarch unwilling to give voice to his political foes.
But the man who far and away looks the most foolish is Mr. Levant, who seems bent on destroying his fledgling political career before it's off the ground.
Mr. Levant, who just turned 30, could have had a long, successful career within the Alliance. He had worked directly for the party's two previous leaders, Preston Manning and Stockwell Day, which gave him valuable exposure to the political game and solid connections in the party hierarchy. While he hadn't been a supporter of Mr. Harper's leadership bid (he was, after all, best man at the wedding of Mr. Day's son Logan), he could have quickly ingratiated himself to his new leader by handing over the Calgary Southwest nomination.
But that isn't Mr. Levant's way. As he demonstrated in his brief stint as Mr. Day's combative communications chief, and again in his aggressive campaign to secure the Calgary Southwest nomination, Mr. Levant is a pit bull in a china shop. His lack of subtlety and foresight has damaged both himself and the party he claims to serve.
Mr. Levant could have struck a deal to hand over Calgary Southwest in exchange for a prominent backroom advisory job and a promise of a nomination in a relatively secure riding next time around. His ascension to the Commons would have been delayed only a couple of years, at which point he might have taken a front-bench role.
Instead, his public insubordination should relegate him to the backest of backbenches if he wins the by-election, and that's far from a lock. The largely middle-class, suburban voters of Calgary Southwest already had doubts about Mr. Levant's big-spending, sledgehammer campaign tactics. Now, his peevish behaviour might just persuade them to elect prominent Tory candidate Jim Prentice.
The loss of the key seat, in the Alliance's heartland, would be a harsh blow to the party, one not easily forgotten. Should that occur, Mr. Levant might find he has spent all his political currency in one selfish spree.
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