29217041Shocking Engagement Reveals How Far Canada Has Fallen
How bad is it in Canada?
Rebel News reporter David Menzies was “arrested for assault” for asking Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland questions.
You can clearly see David did not “assault” Freeland. It’s arguable that he never even made physical contact.
Worse yet, Justin Trudeau has effectively suppressed Canadians’ access to independent media, compelling them to otherwise go to the CBC, what Elon Musk would call “government-funded media.”
Trudeau has admitted, “There’s a level of admiration I have for China.” Is it too late to save Canada?
Not only has David been arrested several times for simply doing his job, so have I and many of our peers in independent media.
Police are used as a weapon by those in power to restrict our access, and through us, you, from powerful people. Justin Trudeau, Guilbeault, Freeland, and even Rachel Notley are all guilty of harnessing the justice system to protect their political power.
It is one of the hallmarks of tyranny.
That is why I am so pleased to report today that I have received word from the Conservative Party that they are calling for an official Parliamentary investigation into the events of yesterday.
But just looking into yesterday is not enough – they must investigate the the cause and not just the symptom of our media landscape in this country.
Would you like to know why David Menzies was asking Freeland questions on a sidewalk in the way that he was? It is because Independent journalists are barred from the Parliamentary Press Gallery by the CBC/CTV/Global News/Radio-Canada media cartel.
Because it is the only way for non-paid off journalists in Canada to speak to officials.
When I reached out to Freeland’s office about her speeding ticket, they ignored me and sent a memo out the back door to the CBC to help frame the story in a friendly way. When I applied to the Parliamentary Press Gallery, I was denied. When I attended an event with Trudeau in Meadow Lake, his Media Enforcer, Terry Gullion body checked me to keep me away.
My friends and I are put in dangerous situations, where we risk our safety and freedom all because we are barred from the halls of Parliament.
If ALL media was allowed access in professional and secure settings, we would not have journalists resorting to sidewalk scrums. It is only required because the government makes it so.
If Liberals truly hate how we manage to find them on the street, time and time again and ask them those stinging questions when they are embarrassingly unprepared, they could put a stop to it by allowing us within the halls of Parliament alongside our corporate opponents.
Justin Trudeau’s bodyguards beat up REBEL NEWS reporter David Menzies
I’m angry and sad at the same time.
Justin Trudeau’s bodyguards beat up our reporter David Menzies. It was completely unprovoked.
David was standing on a public sidewalk outside a public event where Trudeau was going to a Liberal Christmas party. David was doing what all media do — waiting patiently to call out a question to Trudeau as he walked in.
But Trudeau’s bodyguards know Rebel News. And they hate Rebel News. Because their boss hates Rebel News.
Trudeau says it again and again. He says we’re not real reporters. He says we don’t deserve any respect. He publicly blames us for the sorry state of Canada. He personally bans us from attending public press conferences. And if we manage to get in, he insults us, instead of answering our questions.
So after demonizing us and denormalizing us and defaming us for five years, his staff got the message.
They smashed David’s face against the wall — you can clearly see that David was so stunned, he couldn’t speak straight. They beat him up, they bloodied him. They destroyed his property.
David had to go to the doctor later that night — his ears were still ringing and he was bloodied and cut.
There is no excuse for this.
David did nothing wrong. He was never arrested. He was never charged with anything. He committed no crime — he literally was just standing on the sidewalk, waiting to ask a question.
The crime was committed by Trudeau’s thuggish bodyguards — who knew they were doing something evil, and refused to tell David their names, despite the legal requirement to do so.
They beat him up just because he was with Rebel News, and Trudeau has let the world know Rebel News does not deserve respect.
Enough is enough.
Every day, Trudeau becomes more of an authoritarian bully. He rules by decree, not bothering to consult Parliament. He’s ordered the government to crack down on his opponents on the Internet — specifically against YouTube channels like ours. And of course he has banned Rebel News from attending any press conferences or even covering the Leaders’ Debates during the election campaign.
(That was quite a telling moment: mere hours after the Federal Court of Canada ruled that Rebel News must be accredited at the Leaders’ Debates, Trudeau refused to answer our reporters’ questions, saying we were not in fact journalists — even though the court just said that we were. He defied and disrespected the court order upholding our Charter rights. Is it any wonder that his personal bodyguards feel they don’t have to obey the law, either?)
This is the worst thing that has happened to a Rebel News reporter in our seven years. We’ve had street thugs and Antifa members attack our reporters. But never a government bodyguard.
The Toronto Police Service came quickly, but they refused to lay charges against Trudeau’s thugs, despite the assault being caught on video. They know it would be career suicide to cross Trudeau.
So we have to go to court ourselves.
Today we filed a lawsuit on behalf of David. It’s very simple — just 10 pages long. Click here to read it for yourself.
It details the vicious assault by Trudeau’s henchmen. And it also describes how this was entirely foreseeable: for five years Trudeau has demonized us as an enemy. It was only a matter of time before his personal staff took the hint and beat a Rebel News reporter up to please their master.
This isn’t how we live in Canada. This is the kind of thing that you might expect from an authoritarian regime like Turkey or Russia or Venezuela. Imagine if Stephen Harper’s bodyguards had beat up a CBC reporter! But I fear that because most of the media is on Trudeau’s payroll now too, they’ll be silent — or even say that David “deserved it”.
Please help us fight back for David. It’s not just David who got beat up by Trudeau; it’s the very idea of a free and independent press, and the right of non-government journalists to ask questions of our political class.
If Trudeau and his thugs can get away with this, what’s next? Raiding our Rebel News offices? Jailing our reporters?
This cannot stand.
If you agree with me, please click here, or go to StandWithDavid.com. Help chip in to cover our lawsuit against Trudeau — we’re suing the RCMP, the three officers involved, and the government itself. (You can see our full lawsuit by clicking here.)
This isn’t about money — it’s about holding Trudeau’s goons to account. A lawsuit like this could easily cost us $75,000 in legal fees. It really is a David versus Goliath story — and I stand with David. And if you do too, please go to StandWithDavid.com — thanks.
And while you’re there, please sign our petition to Brenda Lucki, Trudeau’s hand-picked RCMP commissioner, who has done nothing but protect Trudeau and investigate his enemies. Tell her that she must suspend her three thugs who beat up David, and call in an outside investigator to review their misconduct. At that same website you can also click on an email that will be sent directly to Brenda Lucki.
I’ve watched that video of David being assaulted three times, and each time it makes me feel worse. Not just for how brutish the RCMP has become towards David himself but also for how brutish they have become towards our freedoms.
Please help me stand with David.
Yours truly,
Ezra Levant
P.S. David did nothing wrong. He was standing on a sidewalk, waiting to ask a question of Trudeau as he walked in to his lavish Christmas party (mask-free of course; but you’re supposed to cancel your family Christmas gathering). Trudeau’s thugs attacked him simply because he works for Rebel News.
P.P.S. Trudeau and the RCMP have unlimited resources. The last time we took them to court, they sent SEVEN government lawyers to fight against us. (That was when they banned us from the Leaders’ Debates). But we won that battle, and I believe we’ll win this one. We just need your help to pay for the lawsuit — please click here to help us. If you give us the tools, we’ll finish the job. (Thanks.)
P.P.P.S. If bodyguards for a conservative politician had beat up a liberal journalist, what would be the reaction from the Media Party? It would be the only thing they would talk about until the politician resigned and the bodyguards were prosecuted. I predict we won’t hear a peep from the Media Party — they’re all on Trudeau’s payroll, and they don’t want to be roughed up either. Please click here to help.
In politics, they call summer the silly season. Hardly anything of substance seems to happen, and the politicians are typically in their ridings having BBQs and whatnot.
Such was the case on Sunday in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto. The outgoing MP, Peter Kent, was having a summer shindig in the parking lot of the Promenade Mall. I dropped by not so much for Mr. Kent, but to interview the replacement candidate for the federal riding of Thornhill, Melissa Lantsman.
I assume most people don’t know who Melissa Lantsman is, but they should. She was Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s war room director in 2018 and helped create slogans like “For the People” and “Ontario: Open for Business.”
Alas, we all discovered that when the COVID pandemic hit last year, the Doug Ford PCs were not “for the people,” and Ontario was very much closed for business. Oh, not all businesses, mind you. If you were a U.S.-based multi-billion dollar conglomerate such as Costco or Walmart, it was business as usual.
And speaking of Walmart, by 2020, Lantsman had resumed duties as a lobbyist. And she lobbied mightily for the Arkansas-based superstore chain. Lantsman went to Premier Ford and successfully ensured Walmart would be exempt from any lockdown rules.
So now that Lantsman is the Conservative Party candidate for Thornhill in 2021, I wanted to ask her a simple question: how can she possibly run to be the MP to represent the people of Thornhill when she was personally responsible for engineering a lockdown policy that caused so many businesses to fold and so many people to be thrown out of work? I mean, her nickname is actually “Lockdown Lantsman.” How do you recover from that? And it was hard to believe this woman is a professional communicator, given how tongue-tied she got when it came to answering hard questions.
And then I wanted to know how she became the representative for the Thornhill riding in the first place. You see, a few months ago, Ontario PC MPP Gila Martow was vying for this position. Martow is a veteran politician who is well-liked and well-respected. I think she would’ve been a slam dunk to win the riding in the next federal election. When Lantsman was declared the winner, it was a shock to everyone — including Lantsman herself, who did not have a victory speech prepared! So, either those exit polls were mightily flawed or this was a screw job of Herculean proportions.
So, I reached out to members of the Martow camp, none of whom want to be named. Why would the Conservative party go with a candidate who has more baggage than the Arrivals terminal at Pearson International Airport?
And the answer was this: it had everything to do with Melissa Lantsman’s sexual orientation.
You see, the Erin O’Toole Conservatives are obsessed with the party being a so-called “Big Tent” operation – it’s not just a bunch of old white guys anymore, you see. They’re sick of the CBC calling them names.
And what better way to prove that point than to promote a LGBTQ candidate representing the Conservatives in the suburbs? Wow, look at that diversity!
Now, folks, I personally do not give a rodent’s rectum if a candidate is a lesbian or a Martian. I think it’s irrelevant. But Lantsman and the Conservatives can’t stop talking about her gayness — it was their main selling point. Is the Conservative Party now fully invested in identity politics and playing the race card and gender card and sexual orientation card? What about who is the best person for the job — no matter what
So, I asked Melissa: is she the candidate for Thornhill based on merit, or her sexual orientation? She sort of answered the question and didn’t object to it. I asked it again, and she ignored me. And that was that.
I had more questions about Walmart, but then I was interrupted — by police! The Lantsman campaign called the cops on me. But there is no crime of asking prickly questions, so they lied to the police, making accusations that I assaulted people. It was the other way around. They were purposely bumping into me and trying to block me. They knocked my hat off. They threw water on me. And for what? Asking questions
And how about this slice of unethical behaviour: while I was being arrested and handcuffed by police, one of them stole my clipboard notebook and took photos of my notes. What’s the deal with that? What kind of political party has a reporter arrested, and then steals their notebook and takes pictures of it?
It looked awful on the Conservatives — especially having me arrested. So after ten hours, they decided to revise history. They say I engaged in homophobic slurs against Lantsman? What? I did not — you can see my question and her answer to it. It wasn’t homophobic, and she obviously didn’t think it was at the time — until later, when her spin doctors needed a way to change the subject from having me arrested, throwing things at me and stealing my notebook.
My final question to Lantsman was this: when Erin O’Toole was running to be the Conservative leader, he was the pro-free speech/anti-cancel culture candidate. And then he becomes leader, and it turns out he is pro-cancel culture/anti-free speech. So I asked Melissa what’s the deal with that?
Could you imagine a real leader such as Donald Trump saying “no comment,” and even running away? Can you imagine a politician of substance calling the cops to have a reporter criminally charged? And that’s what Lockdown Lantsman did on Sunday — she or her minions called the cops. She later issued a press release saying it was a safety issue. A “safety issue” — yeah, my safety! I was pushed, shoved, splashed with a liquid and arrested.
And in the department of perverse irony, check out the tweet Mr. O’Toole issued around the same time I was being stuffed into a police cruiser based on lies from the Lantsman camp: “If you don’t support free speech, you have four parties to choose from. If you do, you only have one: Canada’s Conservatives.” Sorry, Mr. O’Toole. Sorry, Lockdown Lantsman. Actions speak louder than words. And just like Andrew Scheer, you are already blowing this election. Big time.
You might recall how the Toronto Police drove all the way to my personal residence in Richmond Hill to serve me with a trespassing ticket — evidently I committed the egregious act of trespassing when I went to the front door of the Radisson Suite Hotel Toronto Airport near Pearson International.
That’s right, I committed “trespassing” by going to the front door of a hotel that is open to the public (although you wouldn’t really want to stay at this Radisson these days as it is apparently now being used as a COVID quarantining facility for returning travellers to Canada.)
And apparently practicing journalism at this hotel is activity non grata, too… not that there’s much activity in the way of mainstream media types venturing here, mind you. Alas, people being held in a Toronto hotel against their will isn’t much of a story!
Still, there are indeed dozens of demonstrators showing up at this Radisson on a weekly basis.
Once again they were out there in full force last Thursday despite the frigid temperatures in order to offer guests (or is it “inmates”?) rides home. Apparently, there is no lawful stature that forbids people from leaving the property.
And they actually made contact via phone with two detainees, although both were too fearful of leaving the hotel prior to the end of the quarantine period.
Still, things were different at this Radisson compared to the day when I first “trespassed” upon this property. For example, during my initial visits, there was no signage whatsoever stating that the hotel is private property and trespassing is forbidden; that has now been rectified
As well, there is a piece of yellow rope spanning the driveway, which is surely strong enough to keep a charging gerbil at bay… Needless to say, this time around, I did not breach this poor man’s “Romulan neutral zone”…
Bottom line: intimidation tactics employed by the police are not keeping the protesters away — and it’s not keeping Rebel News away, either. Postscript: although there’s is no set fine on my ticket, that’s completely irrelevant because we will, of course, fight this outrageous ticket in court — all the way to the Supreme Court if need be.
And if you would like to help crowdfund our legal fees, please visit www.FightTheFines.com and kindly make a donation. Thank you.
Alas, like other entrepreneurs who have taken a rebel stance against
the government Grinches, Derrick paid a price for being civilly
disobedient and soon received a summons and a fine. His crime: simply
trying to make an honest living.
But Derrick never did bend the knee. And to this day he remains
defiant by continuing to open the doors to his shop on a daily basis.
That really impressed us, so a few weeks ago we visited his shop to do a
story about Derrick Noble and Nobletoyz.
And talk about the Christmas miracle given what has occurred in the
meantime. First, bylaw and law enforcement have backed off given that
Derrick has not received any more fines.
Secondly, Derrick says that thanks to the exposure he received due to our original Rebel News report, business has never been better at Nobletoyz.
Last Saturday was a record sales day. And he says people have driven
from all over the province to shop at his store and support his
position.
Bottom line: after a somewhat rocky start thanks to those fines,
thankfully, it looks like there is indeed a happy ending in store for
this particular Toy Story…
LIFE IN MEDICO-STALINIST POLICE STATE CANADA — Ontario police THREATEN apple farmer with $100,000 social distancing fine Scott Lunau is an honest, hard-working farmer who runs Albion Orchards, a popular u-pick apple orchard in Caledon, Ontario.
He’s had a tough growing season this year. Not only has the hot and dry summer hurt his crops, but CERB has made it nearly impossible to find workers — why would anyone bother with manual labour when the government pays people $2,000 every month to watch Netflix on their couch? To add insult to injury, last week Scott received a not-so-friendly visit from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Was Scott involved in some sort of dangerous criminal activity? Certainly not. He drew the ire of law enforcement for the insidious act of letting people pick apples from his orchard — I guess. No one really knows.
According to Scott, the police felt he “might” be in violation of Ontario’s new COVID-19 rules. Allegedly, some 200 people were on Scott’s 50-acre farm — a “crime” that gave the OPP no choice but to immediately investigate and threaten Scott with a $100,000 fine!Click here for my full report.
To add to the insanity, the cops also took issue with Scott not sanitizing an antique tractor after a child touched it. The odds of an outbreak happening on Scott’s farm rather than a Walmart or Costco (or any of those infamous tent cities we’ve been to) is enough to make even the most degenerate gambler think twice.
This is a direct dereliction of duty by the OPP. How can they enforce the law if they don’t even know it? If you’re in the business of harassing a farmer, you better damn well know the law! Thanks to this pandemic, governments are making farmers, entrepreneurs, and minimum wage workers facilitators of the nanny state. But people like Scott are not law enforcement, that’s not their job — so why are they being forced to do it?
Yours truly, David Menzies
P.S. Rebel News is helping ordinary Canadians fight bogus social distancing tickets. To hear their stories and to pitch in to help us fight their cases, please visit FightTheFines.com. Thank you.
Five police cars plus three private security vehicles were sent to apprehend me. It was a massive, coordinated police raid.
Only two days earlier, there had been a terrible gangland shooting in the same city of Brampton, Ontario — in broad daylight. Seven shooters were still at large.
But police felt that I was a bigger threat, and they sent a huge squad to take me down.
Had I shot anyone?
Was I a drug dealer?
No. I had done something much worse.
I had done journalism.
They literally arrested me and stuffed me in the back of a car. Take a look. Watch the whole thing.
I had caught the local mayor, a disgraced politician named Patrick Brown,
sneaking into a hockey arena that he had closed to the public. He had
slipped in for a private game with his buddies, while telling Brampton
kids they were banned.
It was an international embarrassment for Brown. Sneaking into a hockey rink he had closed to everyone else. Lying about it. But he’s still doing it. Because he thinks he’s untouchable.
And ever since, I’ve been harassed by local police,
who have literally told me my journalism is now illegal — and says our
entire media is banned from Brampton property for a year!
That’s wrong. That’s unconstitutional. And that’s the problem.
It’s not just Patrick Brown breaking his own rules. It’s now
the Peel Regional Police who are acting as Brown’s personal enforcers.
What an outrage. And complete silence from left-wing civil
liberties groups, opposition politicians and — worst of all — the entire
Media Party. Not a peep from the CBC, the Toronto Star, the Globe and
Mail and certainly not the Canadian Association of Journalists. Only my
friend Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun mentioned my arrest, and Marc Patrone of a radio station in Mississauga.
Everyone else thinks this is just fine.
But it’s not. Imagine: a politician ordering his personal
enemies list banned from public property. I’m not even his enemy — I’m
just a reporter who happened to catch him breaking his own pandemic
rules.
In Canada, we believe in the rule of law, not the rule of man
— especially corrupt, small-town mayors like Brown. He may treat the
city as his private fiefdom, but the Charter of Rights says differently.
In the end, the police had nothing to charge me with. I was
literally standing by myself, on a public sidewalk, not even talking to
anyone. It must have been embarrassing to try to come up with a criminal
charge for that. The best they could come up with was a $65 ticket for
not leaving the property when asked.
A ticket. Like a parking ticket. But for all that, they sent
five police cars, three security cars, and arrested me and jammed me in
the back of a car like a gangland murderer.
As Ezra says, we’ll spend $65,000 if we have to, appealing this
ticket all the way to the Supreme Court — and making every one of those
police officers testify why I was treated like a greater menace than a
gangland shootout that day.
They said David wasn’t “accredited”. Really? David’s been an accredited journalist for 30 years — he’s covered hundreds of political events from parties of every stripe.
Why would Scheer kick out David, but welcome the CBC — who despise the Conservatives?
None of this makes sense.
Anyways, David left the property. He went to the public sidewalk. He started filming a video about being kicked out. And then he was swarmed by police.
And this time, they arrested him and handcuffed him.
Why did they do that?
Who ordered them to do that?
He as on the sidewalk.
He’s a man in his fifties with two artificial hips. He’s not a screaming Antifa thug; he’s not a trespasser.
They handcuffed him. Why? To humiliate him?
They finally took off his cuffs and he called me. But then more police came and took away his phone. I immediately called a lawyer. Within an hour, the police let him go, without any charges.
But their point was made: don’t you dare try to ask questions of our political elites. Or the police will arrest you.
Well, point not taken.
I can tell you one thing: today’s outrageous treatment of David Menzies will not stop us from doing our jobs.
I’ll be candid, we’re more used to Justin Trudeau banning us — and Rachel Notley before she was fired by voters. It says more about them than it does about us. Actually it does say something about us: we ask questions that politicians would rather not be asked.
Can you please help us? We need your help.
There are three things you can do:
1. Tell your local conservative candidate that this is nuts.
It’s a Trudeau move, not a conservative move. Ask your Conservative candidate if they think it’s wise to have police arrest the only conservative-leaning video company in Canada. Frankly, no reporter of any stripe should be arrested. This is Canada.
2. Second, sign our petition to Andrew Scheer atLetUsReport.com.
It’s just what it sounds like. Let Us Report — just like Scheer lets the CBC report. We need to show him that Canadians — especially Conservatives — believe in free speech and freedom of the press. Maybe he’s been hanging out in Ottawa too long to remember that.
3. Please help us keep on reporting, no matter who kicks us out.
I just got off the phone with David, and I’ve told him to keep asking Andrew Scheer questions. Not gotcha questions, but real questions — the kind the CBC would never ask him. Questions like these:
• Justin Trudeau’s campaign platform calls for new political censorship of the Internet. Do you support or oppose this? • If elected, would you end the $600 million newspaper bail-out? • If elected, would you privatize the CBC? • What do you think the optimum number of immigrants is each year for Canada? • …and so many more.
Those aren’t trick questions. They’re questions any conservative should answer. But they’re questions that only Rebel News would ask. I mean, can you really see a CBC journalist pressing Scheer about ending the bail-out?
My goal as the publisher of Rebel News is to do journalism — to tell the other side of the story. Most of the time, that means asking accountability questions of the Liberals, NDP and Greens, because the mainstream media never does.
We lean conservative here at Rebel News, and we wear our heart on our sleeves — we want Trudeau gone. I just wrote the best-selling book called The Libranos: What the media won’t tell you about Justin Trudeau’s corruption. I think it’s clear what I stand for.
But that doesn’t mean we’re going to let Scheer become like Trudeau. Having police arrest David Menzies was a Trudeau move, not a move any conservative should be proud of. Actually it’s worse — I’ve never actually seen Trudeau have someone arrested, have you?
You can help us at LetUsReport.com. Sign our petition to Scheer to let us report. And then you can click on the link on that page to see all of our campaign plans and our budget there. We’re spending thousands of dollars flying David and our other journalists around the country, covering political events.
Andrew Scheer might think he’s at war with us, but we’re not at war with him. We just want to be able to do our job — and we will, whether he likes it or not.
So help us out — visit LetUsReport.com to sign the petition to Scheer. And if you want us to keep on going, and if you want Scheer to stop acting like Trudeau, you can chip in a few bucks, too. Please click here to help us out.
Thanks.
Let’s remind Andrew Scheer: he’s trying to replace Trudeau, not become him.
Yours truly,
Ezra Levant
P.S. Please sign our petition at LetUsReport.com. I always worried about a government crackdown on our free speech. I just never thought it would come from the Conservative Party.
