Federal debates chief says he was unaware Rebel News had registered as advocacy group

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks to the press after the French-language leaders' debate in Montreal, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe

OTTAWA — The head of the Leaders’ Debates Commission said Thursday he wasn’t aware that right-wing media group Rebel News — which was permitted more opportunities to question leaders after Wednesday’s debate than most mainstream outlets — had registered as an official third party in the federal election.

Third parties are groups that seek to influence elections but aren’t parties or candidates, and they’re required to register to run ads.

Rebel News and other right-wing media outlets dominated the question-and-answer sessions with federal party leaders after Wednesday’s French-language leaders’ debate.

Rebel News posted on its website Wednesday that it had put legal pressure on the commission to give it greater access to the debates and was allowed to have five reporters ask questions.

Other outlets, including The Canadian Press, were permitted to have just one reporter at a time ask questions of leaders after Wednesday’s debate.

Michel Cormier, executive director of the Leaders’ Debates Commission, told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics Thursday that he “wasn’t aware” that Rebel News had registered as an official third party.

“There’s only so much we can do to control free speech,” he said.

Cormier noted that Rebel News won court injunctions in 2019 and 2021 allowing it into the debates.

He told CBC that the commission failed to convince the courts that Rebel News was not a journalistic outlet, despite showing the group undertaking political advocacy.

The group is affiliated with ForCanada, an organization that has been fundraising to operate trucks displaying ads about Liberal Leader Mark Carney that some have said are based on conspiracy theories.

The Green party — which the commission disinvited from the debates on Wednesday — posted on social media that something “doesn’t add up” because Greens were silenced while Rebel News and True North got press credentials.

The commission said it dropped the party from the debates because it made a strategic decision not to run candidates in every riding after initially telling the commission it would.

Cormier told CBC the Green party had “cooked the books” by telling the commission it intended to run candidates in the vast majority of ridings while telling media that it chose not to run candidates in some ridings to avoid splitting the vote.

Cormier said Wednesday’s debate was “very successful” and the commission will “take stock of all these issues” and outline recommendations.

The Canadian Association of Journalists and a similar Quebec federation said the commission did not consult them on the rules for media access this year, despite the organizations asking to help shape the criteria.

Last September, a Federal Court judge upheld Ottawa’s decision denying journalism tax credits to Rebel News because it doesn’t produce enough original news content.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press