Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tour in B.C. was reduced to being an event for him to talk at people and not be held accountable with tough question otherwise the police will remove them.
Justin Trudeau has talked a big game about freedom of press and he obviously knows what it means – many journalists face censorship, intimidation, violence, imprisonment, and false arrests.
“We must continue to advocate for journalists and for a strong and free press.” wrote PMO.
All journalists agree with this because that is how a functional democracy works. Trudeau wrote how vital independent journalists are and support them.
On May 3, 2022 for World Press Freedom Day, Trudeau issued a statement “We thank the reporters on the front lines who are risking their lives to deliver accurate information to the world. In the age of disinformation and misinformation, independent, fact-based reporting is vital. We must all come together to support the work of journalists and double down in the fight against disinformation.”
But how much does Trudeau put this to practice?
On Tuesday, Trudeau’s tour consisted of a stop at a Boys and Girls Club for a photo-op, then a packing house to and a fruit stand. The man that claims free press is important in Canada can’t help but ban people from asking him questions. Reporters were told they are allowed to look, take pictured and video but they are forbidden from asking the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a public servant any questions like it is Russia.
Trudeau’s handlers threatened media if they shout any questions for the Prime Minister to answer the police will remove them from the premise, Trudeau’s handlers told media.
The communications for where the Prime Minister would be visiting was extremely vague on the press release only to say the PM will be in the “Interior Region, British Columbia’ not actually telling anyone he was visiting Kelowna or Summerland, according to Kelowna Daily Courier
One reporter dared to risk being roughed up by Trudeau’s posse and ask a question which was if he was going to meet with Premier John Horgan.
Outside the B.C. Tree Fruits retail store on Vaughan Avenue in downtown Kelowna, one reporter risked such manhandling by asking Trudeau if he was going to meet with B.C. Premier John Horgan.
“Other things today,” a smiling Trudeau replied before getting into one of the big black SUVs that made up his Okanagan convoy.
Trudeau has been finding it hard to go anywhere in the country without running in to protesters, he’s even running in to them when he travels internationally.
Surprise surprise, it’s not just white people protesting against Justin Trudeau, his failures haven’t gone unnoticed to the Indigenous community. He was recently in Kamloops speaking at an event where he got heckled and criticized by some angry members of the First Nations community.
As Trudeau’s security team walked him through the crowd you can hear people chanting “Take your disrespect out of our tribe,”. Eventually he made his way to the stage to speak and each time he started to talk he was interrupted by protesters. “You’re a criminal,” one said. Trudeau tried to speak again then another protester shout You’re not welcome here.
Instead of addressing the discontent for him he told the protestors to respect their elders. A protestor shouts back “You’re a criminal!” Trudeau says “Thank you”.
How’s freedom of the press going in Canada?
To start, from first hand experience, BC Rise is an independent reporting group and has never had anyone in the federal government or their media contacts respond back to any of our questions we have sent them. Every level of the federal government completely ignores BC Rise.
Trudeau’s hate for independent media is no secret as there is several examples of him trying to shut down criticism about his policies and his Liberal government over the years. There is several incidents but we will only mention a few like intimidating journalists, lots of censorship and lastly at the end we will cover the S.W.A.T. weapons deployed on journalists that were just doing their jobs recording peaceful protesters.
Time and time again Trudeau gets his hand picked ministers to push for online censorship but has also dodged questions in real life that hold him accountable to government policy failures.
- News broke May 27, 2020, Keean Bexte a former Rebel News reporter now with The Counter Signal was physically ejected by the RCMP at a press conference. Terry Gullion, one of Trudeau’s bodyguards caught wind a journalist entered the Trudeau press conference at Rideau Cottage to ask Trudeau unapproved questions. Gullion let in some other media but targeted Bexte refusing him access. Bexte referred to the incident like in 2021 the Communist party of China swooped in to Hong Kong raiding all the independent media and quashing them.
- Trudeau then tried to ban independent journalists from the leaders debate covering the elections. Reported by the National Post on September 8, 2021, A judge in the Federal Court of Canada has ruled the Leaders’ Debates Commission incorrectly denied Rebel News Network accreditation. However when Rebel News asked their question, Trudeau refused to answer and instead slandered the Rebel News media group on public national television and insulted them with name calling.
- In Toronto On December 16, 2021, David Menzies, Rebel News reporter, was assaulted by Justin Trudeau’s bodyguards while he was standing on the public side walk waiting for Trudeau to show up at a Liberal event to try to as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a question. As Trudeau’s convoy was showing up his bodyguards started to push Menzies eventually grabbing him and forcing his head in to the wall like they were trying to arrest him. They continued to assault him until Trudeau go inside.
- Headlines were made on April 26, 2022, documents and leaked Whatsapp chat logs from the Police that were involved in the quashing of the Freedom Convoy protest last winter were circulating online. It was reveled the RCMP was targeting a select group of independent media and journalists to monitor on social media during the Freedom Convoy. According to True North, the list included Fox News’s Greg Re and Tucker Carlson, Rebel News’s Ian Miles Cheong and Ezra Levant, National Post’s Rupa Subramanya, Counter Signal’s Keean Bexte and independent journalist Benny Johnson.
- Earlier this year we got a flashback to Trudeau’s online censorship bill. Bill C-11 formerly known as C-10 plus another piece of legislation that attacks the media called “Online News Act”, Bill C-18.
Bill C-10 by design is vaguely worded and scopes in social media posts, instant messaging, youtube, tiktok and countless other online services.
On May 21, 2022 Warren Kinsella explained it as “unelected and unaccountable faceless bureaucrats at the CRTC can determine, with no oversight, which user-generated content is protected, and which isn’t. That’s a lot of power. And anyone with links, say, to YouTube or other such revenue-generating services would be at the mercy of the CRTC’s behind-closed-doors decision-making.”
- In May of this year True North posted an article about how Bill C-18, The Online News act can impact media that asks the federal government tough questions. It is designed to take money from tech giants and hose down government approved media outlets with money and punish outlets critical of the federal government by excluding them from the funding brought in by big tech companies.
The S.W.A.T. Attack
Peaceful protestors and independent journalists attacked by police:
Last winter, in February 2022, during the Freedom Convoy, after three weeks which saw tens of thousands of people take part in the peaceful protesting against Trudeau’s illogical and unscientific Covid-19 mandates, Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act formerly known as the War Measures Act.
A older woman and a young man were trampled by Police horses during the peaceful protest while the Ottawa police lied about the situation on the ground. The Ottawa police claim someone threw a bicycle at the police horse when video footage clearly shows otherwise. BC Rise reported on that incident here, and includes another camera angel of the incident.
Rebel News independent journalist Alexa Lavoie was attacked by Ottawa police and smashed with a baton a few times while also being pepper sprayed. She was on the front line reporting from deep in the action.
Another independent Journalist, this time for True North, Andrew Lawton was also pepper sprayed by Ottawa place while reporting from the Freedom Convoy. He even wrote a book on his experience at the Freedom Convoy that is up for purchase online on Amazon and Indigo called: The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World.
