The federal leaders’ debates in 2025 were supposed to showcase Canadian democracy. Instead, they exposed collusion between Canada’s state broadcaster and the taxpayer-funded commission meant to referee them.

Rebel News had twice beaten the Leaders’ Debates Commission in federal court after being unlawfully barred from covering the debates. By 2025, facing the prospect of losing a third time, the commission capitulated and accredited Rebel News.

That legal victory enraged the legacy media, particularly the CBC, as Rebel News reporters were heckled in the press line, disparaged on national television, and ultimately shut out of the post-debate scrum when the commission cancelled the second night's scrum entirely rather than allow questions from independent media.

I know, I was in the room, subject to this vile workplace harassment for two days straight. I guess we were too good at our jobs on the first night, after upstaging the entitled bullies in the mainstream media. 

The Lie About Police

After the post-debate scrum was cancelled on the second night of the debates, CTV senior political correspondent Mike Le Couteur reported: “There were Montreal police on scene and other increased security measures in place.”

CBC’s histrionic crybaby David Cochrane piled on, falsely suggesting Rebel News’ accreditation had been revoked and stating the Montreal police were on scene to protect him.

From what exactly? Me? Drea Humphrey? Alexa Lavoie?

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The message was clear: independent journalists were such a disruption that police had to be called in. Again, look at this footage from inside the media room. Who are the aggressors?

But now a Rebel News freedom of information request to the Montreal police service (SPVM) exposed the lie.

Officials confirmed they have no records of any involvement whatsoever. No calls, no messages, no officers. Security inside the debate venue was handled by the RCMP — not SPVM, and certainly not because of Rebel News.

It's a Pattern of Dishonesty

This wasn’t a one-off mistake. CBC’s own ombudsman admitted in April that the 2025 election set a record for complaints — more than the previous three months combined — with the leaders’ debates at the centre of viewer outrage.

Why? Because CBC lied there too.

They claimed Rebel News’ billboard truck was breaking the law. It wasn’t. They claimed our journalists disrupted the debates. We didn’t. They claimed accreditation was revoked. It wasn’t.

And Rosemary Barton falsely told Canadians that “remains of Indigenous children have been found” — a statement later quietly “corrected” online to acknowledge only “potential burial sites.”

The ombudsman admitted “many complaints were found to have merit.” Translation: viewers caught the CBC lying, and the network had to concede it.

More Manufactured Victims and Manufactured Stories

The debates were supposed to be about Canadians hearing directly from their leaders. Instead, they became about legacy media protecting their turf. CBC and CTV weren’t content to report facts. They positioned themselves as victims, smeared independents as aggressors, and even invented a police presence to make their storyline stick.

The access to information documents and the ombudsman’s report prove this wasn’t a mistake — it was a pattern.

With Prime Minister Mark Carney pledging another $150 million to the CBC on top of its $1.4 billion subsidy, Canadians should expect more of the same: a state broadcaster that manufactures narratives, not news.

These liars should apologize. Instead, they will be rewarded with more of your money to lie to you some more.