BREAKING: Mark Carney bans Rebel News from the G7 — so we’re suing!

Mark Carney has banned Rebel News journalists from reporting on the G7 summit this weekend in Alberta. So we’ve just filed an emergency lawsuit against him with the Federal Court — the same court that slapped down Trudeau’s repeated attempts to censor us. You can see the lawsuit for yourself right here.

There are four short documents:

1. A letter to Carney’s attorney general, Sean Fraser;
2. A letter to the Federal Court, explaining our need for an emergency hearing;
3. The emergency lawsuit, called a Notice of Application; and
4. The facts of the case, as outlined in an affidavit by Sheila Gunn Reid, our chief reporter.

I really encourage you to look at those documents. They’re really short. The letter to the Attorney General is just one sentence long — basically, “here’s the lawsuit”.

The letter to the court is a page and a half. The key sentences from it are these:

“We are writing to make an informal request for a special hearing… to have the application for an injunction heard (remotely if possible, and in the alternative in Calgary) and decided before end of business on Friday, June 13, 2025.”

And:

“There is significant urgency to having the injunction heard prior to the commencement of the Summit. The Applicants will be significantly prejudiced and will suffer irreparable harm if the motion hearing is delayed. We note that the Applicant, Rebel News, has been granted urgent sitting dates in similar injunction applications, resulting in the granting of mandatory injunctions against the Leaders’ Debate Commission.”

As in, we need to have an emergency hearing ASAP, or we’ll miss the G7. (This delay is 100% part of Carney’s scheme, since we applied months ago.)

The meat of the lawsuit is the Notice of Application, which is quite short, too. The key sentences are these:

17. The Accreditation Refusal is unreasonable and unlawful, is contrary to natural justice, and lacks procedural fairness. The Applicants will suffer irreparable harm as a result of the Accreditation Refusal.

18. Additionally, failing or refusing to grant media accreditation to Ms. Gunn and Mr. Fizzard, by way of the Accreditation Refusal, is contrary to the principles of section 2(b) of the Charter which guarantees freedom of the press.

That’s the thing about Carney and his reheated leftovers from Justin Trudeau’s government. They just don’t care about civil liberties. I mean, these are the people who invoked a form of martial law because some truckers were honking their horns. They have no patience for opposition or criticism.

And finally, there’s Sheila’s affidavit, which outlines the facts including how we complied with all accreditation requirements long ago — Carney was simply waiting until the last minute to block us. Sheila’s affidavit is seven pages of text, plus copies of key documents. Here’s the highlight, in my mind. (“Mr. Fizzard” refers to our videographer Syd, who also applied and was banned.) Here’s some of Sheila’s sworn statement:

35. I do not know of any reason why Mr. Fizzard’s request, or my own, would be delayed, except as an arbitrary exercise of authority. Refusing or failing to grant accreditation, with only one business day left until the Summit, is unfair to me, Mr. Fizzard, and Rebel News, as it gives us very little time for recourse.

36. There is no reason to deny Mr. Fizzard’s accreditation or my own. We meet the requirements set out in the information published by Global Affairs. There is no basis to refuse or fail to provide accreditation.

37. Mr. Fizzard and I, on behalf of Rebel News, seek to promote, cover, and document the Summit and seek to be accredited as media representatives and journalists for that purpose. Mr. Fizzard and I satisfy the accreditation requirements published by Global Affairs and completed the registration forms prior to June 1, 2025.

38. If Global Affairs fails or refuses to grant Mr. Fizzard and I media accreditation, we will be unable to report on important international issues and events that occur at the Summit. I believe that Rebel News, and its audience, will suffer irreparable harm if Mr. Fizzard’s and my accreditation are not granted to attend the Summit.”

This really is like deja vu all over again: this is the third time the Liberal government has tried to ban us from attending important events. In 2019, Trudeau’s hand-picked debates commission banned us from covering the leaders debates, but the Federal Court struck that down as illegal and unconstitutional, saying Trudeau had violated our Charter rights.

In 2021, Trudeau’s debate commission tried a second time — and incurred the wrath of the Federal Court again.

Well here we are for a third time. But this time it’s Mark Carney’s decision. And incredibly, he hates freedom of the press and freedom of speech even more than Trudeau did.

I don’t know if you remember, but the last time I spoke with Carney directly was on the streets of Davos at the World Economic Forum. This was right after Chrystia Freeland’s RCMP bodyguards arrested David Menzies for asking her a question. Carney said he disagreed with that arrest, and said part of being in public life is answering tough questions.

Well, it looks like that was a lie — because he’s banning our reporters from attending.

So we’re going to court again. I hope we’ll win. But Carney and the Liberals don’t take chances. Last time, the Liberals sent literally SEVEN government lawyers to fight us. I expect they’ll need a bigger courtroom this time.

I expect the Liberals to fight even more viciously now, especially since Carney has a minority government, so he doesn’t want any Rebel News-style questions.

We applied to get accreditation for several journalists and every single one of them was banned. I’m starting to get the feeling that maybe Carney is a bit worried about the questions we’d ask him!

If you can help us crowdfund this emergency lawsuit please do.

This whole thing is so un-Canadian. Banning journalists is what dictatorships do, not democracies, at a meeting of the great democracies.

Please read our lawsuit documents and to help us crowdfund our legal fees.

I hope we get our day in court tomorrow. Because really, the freedom of all independent media itself is on trial.

Sure this is to help Rebel News reporters. But this is about something bigger, too — like freedom of the press for all Canadians. I predict that not a single bail-out media journalist will even care that we’re banned. Many will actually like it.

Thanks for your help.

Please help us fight Mark Carney’s G7 media ban in Federal Court!

Mark Carney has just banned Rebel News journalists from reporting at the G7 summit in Alberta — so we’re suing him in Federal Court. This is the third time a Liberal government has tried to censor us, and it’s more blatant than ever. Our reporters followed all the rules. We applied months ago. But now, just one business day before the summit, we’re told we’re banned — simply because we ask tough questions. We’ve filed an emergency lawsuit to stop this unlawful censorship, but the Liberals will spare no expense fighting us. Please help us cover our legal fees so we can stand up for freedom of the press — not just for Rebel News, but for all Canadians.

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