Justin Trudeau's World Press Freedom Day statement makes him out to be a big believer in the free press. Except that's just not true. I go through the case against Trudeau's fake belief in a free press, and give you evidence he's against it. But the key in today's show is the last half of the show where I talk to our lawyer, Aaron Rosenberg.
00:14:15.980That is why Canada continues to defend press freedom and condemn all attempts to stifle the press.
00:14:21.240It is why, together with other members of the Media Freedom Coalition, Canada calls on all states to protect access to free media and support the free exchange of information during this pandemic.
00:14:31.040Today, we recognize all the journalists and media workers who start conversations, shine light on stories that would otherwise not be told, expose injustices, and hold the powerful to account, often at great personal risk.
00:14:41.300They are a vital part of all healthy democracies, and through their work, they spur change and increase transparency that benefit all of us.
00:14:47.820He's the guy bringing in pandemic censorship.
00:14:51.800He's the guy blocking conservative reporters from attending his daily press conference.
00:14:55.920He's instructed his ministers to license journalists and punish them deeply if they resist his censorship fiat.
00:15:01.800That's Justin Trudeau, just like his father, really.
00:15:04.940Except back then, when Pierre Trudeau brought in the War Measures Act, there were a few journalists who asked him if, in fact, it was too much.
00:15:12.340And I think it's our duty as a government to protect government officials and important people in our society against being used as tools in this blackmail.
00:15:24.940Now, you don't agree to this, but I'm sure that, once again, with hindsight, you would have probably found it preferable if Mr. Cross and Mr. Laporte had been protected from kidnapping,
00:15:35.160which they weren't, because the steps we're taking now weren't taken.
00:15:39.580But even with your hindsight, I don't see how you can deny that.
00:15:46.160No, I still go back to the choice that you have to make in the kind of society that you live in.
00:15:50.460Well, there's a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns.
00:15:56.860But it's more important to keep law and order in this society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don't like the looks of a soldier.
00:16:55.520Well, look, we're in the commentary business, the news business, the opinion business, we got all that.
00:17:00.600But every once in a while, you have to stop talking and start doing something about it.
00:17:05.600You know the old joke, everybody always complains about the weather, but no one ever does something about it.
00:17:10.620Well, today is the day we did something about it.
00:17:15.380You'll recall that in October, when Justin Trudeau's hand-picked debates commission banned us from attending the leaders' debates,
00:17:22.400we went to the Federal Court of Canada, and in a long-shot emergency application, we won the day.
00:17:30.280And we won a court order commanding Trudeau's staff to let us in.
00:17:35.820And it was a great victory, not just for journalism, but for freedom.
00:17:41.040Well, as you may know, for several weeks now, Justin Trudeau has been having these very tightly managed scrums outside of Rideau Cottage.
00:17:50.000That's what they call his 22-room mansion.
00:17:51.920We were banned from attending in person, but we were told, well, you can join by conference call.
00:17:58.840And the conference call was managed by the Canadian government, so by civil servants, by neutral, nonpartisan public servants, not Liberal Party hacks.
00:18:09.540And so more than 20 times we've dialed in and said our name and affiliation, and 20 times we were not picked,
00:18:21.120while the same pet reporters for Justin Trudeau are picked again and again, sometimes twice even on the same day.
00:18:30.020For example, the Canadian press, obscure freelancers like Justin Ling, who throws softballs at Justin Trudeau, picked regularly.
00:18:40.000The statistical odds of us being on 20-plus calls and never being called once,
00:18:46.280and other pro-Trudeau stenographers being called almost every day,
00:18:51.520well, it's to the point where it's statistically impossible.
00:18:58.980And so we've reached out to the same crack team of legal eagles who fought the censorship of us at the Federal Debates Commission and won to fight this one, too.
00:19:11.400And joining us now via Skype from his home office is our friend Aaron Rosenberg.
00:19:15.920You'll recognize him as one of the Debate Commission lawyers.
00:19:25.700And you and your colleague, David Elmola, have put together a lawsuit and today filed it in the very same federal courthouse where we had our trial in October.
00:19:39.060And it's styled Rebel News Network Limited applicant versus Canada Privy Council Office and the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary of the Cabinet and the Attorney General of Canada.
00:19:59.800Tell us what the case is and what it isn't.
00:20:02.520Well, this is a case about two very important principles, first being freedom of the press, second being holding government to account.
00:20:15.080That means government accountability and transparency, both of which appear to be severely lacking in the context of Justin Trudeau's daily press briefing.
00:20:26.540What we have is a system that is arbitrary, that's shadowy, that's run by the Privy Council, and that is meant to provide vital information to Canadians about this ever-developing crisis.
00:20:47.580And unfortunately, these press briefings provide access to a severely limited number of appointed reporters.
00:21:01.100And as a result, media organizations like Rebel and others are denied the opportunity to put important questions to our leaders and most particularly our prime minister.
00:21:13.220And so if organizations like Rebel are not able to put questions to our prime minister, then Canadians across the country are not being provided the information that they so deserve during these really trying times.
00:21:34.520And so we put together this application to hold the administrator of these press briefings to account so that organizations like Rebel and others can hold the government accountable for the information that Canadians deserve.
00:22:46.520If you think that was a one-off, look at this series of questions in French, asking with outrage that Trudeau was allowing hand sanitizer in the country without English and French bilingual labeling.
00:23:34.120And why should there not be proper information on products coming in from the United States?
00:23:41.660Does that mean, Mr. Trudeau, that there could be other exemptions in the coming weeks?
00:23:48.520Anyhow, my point is that Trudeau chooses these loving questions, but it's not actually him.
00:23:55.400And, Aaron, that's a very key point I want to tell our viewers.
00:23:58.320And you and I discussed this at length.
00:24:00.600We're not asking a court to make Justin Trudeau answer us, to make Justin Trudeau like us, to make Justin Trudeau invite us to a liberal party hangout.
00:24:12.440This is a nonpartisan government agency that's doing the vetting.
00:24:16.700This is not Trudeau or his political staff.
00:24:19.180This is the Privy Council office that's supposed to treat Canadians equally regardless of any characteristics.
00:24:25.380They're the ones who obviously have this secret blacklist.
00:24:31.020And we're trying to get through the civil service.
00:24:33.300If Trudeau says, I'm not answering the rebel, or I hate the rebel, or maybe he'll actually answer us, as he finally did in a leader's debate,
00:24:42.660we're suing the Privy Council, which is acting like a censor or, I don't know, maybe Trudeau's nanny, protecting him from any tough questions.
00:24:53.800And, you know, it's hard to bring home the critical nature of these briefings and these opportunities.
00:25:05.700You know, much can be said about the content of these briefings.
00:25:11.760But this is really, you know, House of Commons only started doing virtual sittings last week.
00:25:22.040And so this was really the only opportunity the Canadians had to see the prime minister, the head of state,
00:25:29.220to talking about providing updates on this pandemic as it pertains to Canadians.
00:25:37.140And so other than that, you know, where else are you going to go for your information in terms of what the prime minister
00:25:45.500and what our public officials are doing about this pandemic?
00:25:48.960So if the press cannot put these questions to the prime minister during this opportunity,
00:25:55.400then it's highly unlikely that they'll be able to get answers to those questions.
00:26:00.300You know, if Justin Trudeau wants to invite over his pet journalists, they're all on the government payroll pretty much.
00:26:07.460If he wants to invite them over for coffee, I'm not going to say, hey, I'm going to sue to get an invitation to get to the private Christmas party for Justin Trudeau.
00:26:17.340Let me read from paragraphs three and four in the lawsuit, because I just want to help our viewers understand we're not actually suing Justin Trudeau.
00:26:24.740I don't believe that you should be able to sue Justin Trudeau or Donald Trump or Jason Kenney to make them answer you.
00:26:32.760Although I should note that Donald Trump loves going to CNN and he loves taking on the toughest questions.
00:26:38.980Trudeau is a bit of a coward that way.
00:26:42.440And let me just read from paragraphs three and four of the lawsuit, because I think they make this clear.
00:26:46.340The respondent, the Privy Council Office, PCO, provides objective, nonpartisan support to the prime minister, portfolio ministers and cabinet in order to facilitate the effective operation of the federal government.
00:27:00.300The PCO is led by the respondent, the clerk, who also serves as secretary to the cabinet and head of the public service.
00:27:07.800The clerk's role is to advise the prime minister and elected government officials in managing the country from an objective, nonpartisan public policy perspective, unquote.
00:27:19.840So that's and by the way, folks, you can see this whole lawsuit.
00:27:24.640It's very plain English on the website below this.
00:27:29.160And I wanted to read that part of your beautifully drafted lawsuit.
00:27:32.100Because I say again, I don't expect to be allowed into a liberal party club event.
00:27:38.920I don't expect to be allowed into the personal home of Justin Trudeau.
00:27:43.900But if the nonpartisan civil service is having an event, they should act like the nonpartisan civil service, just like the post office should deliver my mail and the electric company should put electricity to my house.
00:28:00.840If the nonpartisan government is having a press conference, we should be allowed to make calls.
00:28:22.160It's an honor to do this type of work.
00:28:24.040Look, you know, these types of media organizations, independent media organizations, need to have the opportunity to put these questions to the prime minister during this critical time.
00:28:38.200And the Privy Council, whose purported role is to act in a non-arbitrary, nonpartisan manner and to provide support to the prime minister and the prime minister's office, you know, it's hard to understand at this point why these types of media organizations cannot participate in these important briefings.
00:29:01.180And, you know, the other thing is that – and something that you highlighted earlier, Ezra, is that, you know, the federal government has reiterated time and again its commitment to freedom of the press, free expression in Canada.
00:29:15.920In fact, I believe yesterday was World Freedom of the Press Day, and the prime minister put out a statement heralding the federal government's action and commitment to freedom of the press, especially during this pandemic.
00:29:35.460And yet this process is interfering with media's opportunity to put questions for all Canadians to the prime minister.
00:29:47.240And so I think that this process raises a lot of questions about the federal government's commitment or stated commitment to freedom of the press at this time.
00:29:55.420You know, as you were talking, you made me think about how vociferously and vigorously the Trudeau government opposed our lawsuit last time in October when they kicked us out of the leaders' debates.
00:30:08.020I remember you and your colleague, David, worked all weekend, and you fought like crazy, and you worked all weekend, and the hearing was on Monday.
00:30:16.500And our total legal fee was $18,000, and it was money well earned.
00:30:21.000The two of you guys and your staff worked basically four days straight, and we won.
00:30:26.380Well, we finally saw how much the five Government of Canada lawyers, they billed taxpayers $131,000.
00:30:35.580I don't even know how you could do that.
00:31:02.440I think the worst part of it is most media party journalists at the CBC and the bailout newspapers are going to say,
00:31:09.740yeah, we don't want Rebel News there because they don't want any competitors there asking better questions than them.
00:31:14.760They don't want us to stink up the joint by asking accountability questions instead of, hey, Justin, how are you holding up?
00:31:20.900Well, yeah, you know, it's also important to remember that at the Debates Commission, you know, when Rebel was asking, was demanding access to the media scrum at the debate.
00:31:35.460Well, as it turned out, when the Rebel reporters were granted the opportunity and given the access to the media scrum, in fact, they asked important, hard-hitting questions that became the standout questions at the media scrum itself.
00:31:53.320And so it's understandable why the federal government might, for political reasons, want to evade Rebel News.
00:32:03.060Ultimately, it's critical that Rebel keeps up this fight to ensure that these hard-hitting questions are being asked of the federal government and the prime minister, especially during these really tough times for Canadians.
00:32:13.820Yeah. Well, I remember when we contacted you in such a rush last time, because, of course, they only banned us the day, like the Friday before the Monday where the debates were outlandish behavior.
00:32:26.860And you, I remember our conversation on the phone. You said, Ezra, I want to let you know this is a long shot. You probably won't win.
00:32:34.300It's going to cost you money. And I said, well, we got to fight anyways. And the bill was $18,000. And the miracle is we won.
00:32:41.580You and I haven't talked about the details here, but I think we should let our viewers know this is probably going to be just as large a fight, if not larger.
00:32:55.300And it's also a long shot fight, because no one's ever tried this before. No one's ever said we have the right to be treated equally by the civil service to at least ask a question.
00:33:05.940Even if Trudeau ignores us or insults us or says, pass, that's up to him. And I would never seek to command him to answer.
00:33:13.840But no one's ever tried to compel the nonpartisan bureaucracy to let a reporter ask a question.
00:33:20.700So this is new law and is very important law. Do you think that the battle here will be just as tough?
00:33:26.940Do you think it'll be even tougher, maybe? I want to know, because we have to crowdfund this.
00:33:33.840And we've set up a page, letusreport.com. Tell me what we can expect to come in from the other side.
00:33:40.060They threw five lawyers at us, which was crazy. They'll probably do the same here, right?
00:33:46.240Well, that's right. I mean, if history is any indication, money is no object in relation to dealing with this.
00:33:55.140They will hire the best lawyers in the country to to to fight rebel, to ensure that rebel is not successful in this application and that it does not proceed to ask the tough questions to the federal government, including prime minister.
00:34:10.300I think we're going to I think we're going to see a big fight. We are facing a big battle here.
00:34:16.680Well, I know you're up for it. You and David did such a wonderful job.
00:34:20.180And the debates commission, you know, I've been in too many courtrooms in my life, but that was some of the finest advocacy I've ever seen.
00:34:28.140Now, of course, I don't want to get off track, but that fight is still going.
00:34:31.980We're still battling the debates commission. They're still trying to shut us down.
00:34:36.480They know the next election could be here within months or even a year or so.
00:34:41.020So they're trying to bat us down. We're still fighting them.
00:34:43.260I don't think we've actually reported that back to our viewers.
00:34:47.880Last word to you, Aaron, you filed this today and it'll be served directly on the government by the federal court, if I understand their procedure.
00:34:55.740I know things are sort of in a slowdown because the courthouses are physically shut down because of the virus.
00:35:02.340So I don't know if we'll get our justice quickly.
00:35:05.940How soon does the government have to reply to our lawsuit?
00:35:11.800Well, the government has 10 days to respond to this lawsuit by way of filing a notice of appearance.
00:35:17.580So they're on pretty strict timelines.
00:35:20.020And again, that's all subject to the current court shutdown, which we expect to be lifted fairly soon.
00:35:26.000But yes, these timelines are very short and they will have to respond very quickly.
00:35:31.940Well, I'm glad I couldn't ask for a better team of lawyers than you and David.