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It’s always bittersweet when the Canadian National Exhibition opens in Toronto. On one hand, a fun-filled carnival is back in town; on the other hand, it signals the unofficial end of summer.

Speaking of bittersweet – and heavy on the bitter – Rebel News wanted to attend Media Day. This is when the CNE is previewed for the press.

But guess what? Looks like we’ve been deemed media non grata.

The media relations team wouldn’t even acknowledge our requests for media credentials. We even reached out to the Ex’s public relations firm headed up by someone called Tran (we have no idea if Tran is her name or gender identification. But never mind.)

Tran never got back to us either.

Now why would that be?

When I was a freelance writer and later a staffer at the Sun News Network, I was always welcomed to the CNE’s Media Day event with open arms. Why am I suddenly getting the cold shoulder treatment now?

Gee, could it be due to the fact that there’s a new CEO at the CNE? That would be Mark Holland. Yes the very same Mark Holland who used to function (barely) as the Federal Minister of Health?

Alas, Liberals loathe the independent media. Perhaps it’s due to our penchant to ask the sort of impolite questions that the legacy media declines to ask. The mainstream media scribes don’t want to press their luck when it comes to offending their much-needed sugar daddies in Ottawa after all…

But had Holland made himself available to us, we wanted to zero in on his hypocrisy now that he’s the CNE’s head top carney.

For example, in June 2024, the Conservatives suggested the federal government suspend the carbon tax for the summer. Holland’s response was equal parts theatrical and unhinged.

Here’s his rant verbatim: “Good news, kids! You can take a summer of fun time vacation where you’re locked in a car for 10 consecutive days nonstop with no bathroom breaks, and the Conservatives have a plan for you to have that summertime fun. And the cost? Give up the future of the planet. Don’t worry about climate change! Don’t worry about taking action on the planet! Enjoy your ten hours in the car and let the planet burn.”

Wow. What a kook.

But here’s the thing: how does Holland expect people to get to the CNE? We assume he wants the Ex to be heavily attended, attracting fairgoers from across the province and even south of the border. How are they supposed to get to the CNE? Walk? (If so, they best start hiking now – maybe they’ll catch the fair before it closes on Sept. 1.)

It gets worse. In June, Holland penned a column for The Globe and Mail headlined: “The state of men’s health in Canada is a crisis we can no longer ignore.”

Uh-oh: irony alert! Has Holland checked out the entrees being flogged on the midway and inside the Food Building? Has he noticed the CNE offers such wonderfully healthy edibles like deep-fried pizza, maki sushi corn dogs (also deep-fried, of course) and how about an ice cream chicken sandwich?

Gulp…

How was it that Holland was so concerned about men’s health in June – but less than three months later he’s gleefully serving up a heart attack on a bun?

One thing is consistent about this ex-Liberal: his love of censorship. Now that Holland is in the carny business he’s a mirror image of that other Carney lording over Canada in Ottawa. He is apparently cherry-picking which media outlets he will speak with while banning others.

In the final analysis, that’s the thing about the Ex it would seem: sometimes the CNE makes for a happy-go-lucky carnival; these days, it’s a (control) freak show…