Until last week’s federal leaders’ debates, Rebel News and its gadfly founder, Ezra Levant, were little more than minor irritants in Canada’s media landscape, like a pesky patch of poison ivy. The spectacle of David Menzies, the Rebel’s so-called “mission specialist,” and his trademark Panama hat being repeatedly splattered against a wall by plain clothes cops for stalking politicians with his microphone thrust like a sabre even provided the odd moment of comic relief. His schtick long ago lost its novelty, however, as he was arrested no fewer than five times last year alone. The lack of consequences for such behaviour, with charges repeatedly being dropped, has unfortunately seemed to only embolden the Rebels. The litigious Levant repeatedly advanced his cause with court victories achieved by hiding behind a shield of press freedom, although he couldn’t fool a panel of journalism experts that advises the Canada Revenue Agency on eligibility for Ottawa’s news media subsidies. It denied Levant’s publication status as a Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization in 2022 after it found that “less than one per cent of Rebel News articles met the criteria for original news content,” and a Federal Court upheld the ruling last fall.

After the spectacle the Rebels provoked at last week’s debates, however, there can be little doubt left that journalism is the last thing on their minds. First, Levant prevailed on the Debates Commission to allow his agitators five questions in the scrum following Wednesday’s French-language debate, claiming that Rebel News had 16 divisions and threatening to again sue, as he did last election in order to gain accreditation. That led to Rebel News and other right-wing........

© Canadian Dimension