Wed Mar 23, 2022 – 7:58 pm EDT
OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – A Canadian federal judge scorched the country’s election Leaders’ Debates Commission for blacklisting the popular Rebel News from asking questions at certain campaign events, including leadership debates, during the 2021 federal election campaign.
Justice Elizabeth Heneghan wrote in a recent ruling that there is room in Canada “for the expression of opposing points of view,” noting that Rebel News did not ask “to impose its views, but for the opportunity to participate in coverage of matters of importance during a federal election.”
On September 8, 2021, Rebel News was granted an emergency injunction by Heneghan that overturned a ban on the news outlet from the Leaders’ Debates Commission.
In the ruling dated March 7, 2022, Heneghan explained in detail why she granted Rebel News the injunction. The judge said the news outlet was “arbitrarily targeted” among a group of media outlets.
“In my opinion, the Applicant has established a strong prima facie case that it was arbitrarily targeted from the group of accredited media outlets. The record shows that the Commission, in 2021, adopted the CAJ Guidelines,” Heneghan wrote.
“The Commission failed to exercise its independence
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