Rebel News personality David Menzies was arrested Monday for allegedly assaulting a police officer while trying to ask Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland questions about the government’s decision to leave the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) off the designated terrorist entity list.
The website posted a video of Menzies briefly colliding with a police officer in Richmond Hill, Ont., while trying to question Freeland about the IRGC at an event to mark the destruction of Flight PS752, a Ukrainian International Airlines jetliner that was destroyed by the Iranian military in January 2020 — an attack that killed dozens of Canadians.
The video of Monday’s encounter appears to show an officer stepping into Menzies’ path while the media personality was carrying his microphone in the parking lot of a suburban strip mall.
That officer subsequently grabbed Menzies by his lapels, pushed him against a wall and accused him of assault while putting him under arrest.
“Police — you’re under arrest for assault. You pushed into me, sir,” the unidentified officer said.
Rebel News personality arrested while trying to question Chrystia Freeland
Video shows police arresting Rebel News personality David Menzies as he attempts to ask Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland questions about why the government hasn’t designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity. (Video courtesy Rebel News)
“I didn’t touch a single person,” Menzies said in response.
“This is a trumped-up charge of assault, folks. I didn’t come here to cause any trouble. I came here to do my job and now I’m handcuffed. This is your Canada now, folks. This is the gestapo taking blackface’s orders,” Menzies continued — an apparent reference to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who also attended the event.
Menzies asked the officer for his name and badge number but answers to those questions — if they were provided — aren’t audible on the tape.
The officer in the video was later identified by a York Regional Police spokesperson as a member of the RCMP protective detail.
“The arrest of the Rebel News reporter was made by the prime minister’s RCMP security detail. York Regional Police officers assisted as the interaction took place in our region,” the spokesperson said.
“It was determined that no credible security threat existed and the subject was released unconditionally shortly thereafter.”
Menzies questions Freeland at the event marking the destruction of Flight PS752. (Rebel News/X)
A spokesperson for the RCMP said “protective policing resources were involved in an incident while deployed on a protective operation.”
“The RCMP is looking into the incident and the actions of all parties involved. No further comment is available at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Freeland, who has been the target of threats and tense public confrontations in the past, is routinely monitored by police for her safety.
Previous run-ins with police
The finance minister ignored Menzies’ questions and did not say anything as the arrest unfolded.
Menzies was also arrested for a 2021 encounter with now Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman in Thornhill, Ont.
Lantsman, who is a lesbian, said Menzies’ questions “became homophobic and related to my sexual orientation.”
Menzies was also removed from a 2019 campaign event for then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.
An RCMP officer removes Menzies during a campaign stop for then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer at the Abilities Centre in Whitby, Ont., on Sept. 30, 2019. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
Rebel News widely shared video of the latest incident, advertising “SHOCK FOOTAGE” on its website.
“Chrystia Freeland’s bodyguards assault and arrest David Menzies when he asks her a question,” said a headline on the website.
“The police lied about the assault. They’re the ones who assaulted him,” the website claimed in its post about the incident.
According to data from X, formerly Twitter, parts of the video have been seen by millions of social media users.
Rebel News founder considering legal action
Reached by email Tuesday, Ezra Levant, the founder and owner of Rebel News, said he and Menzies are considering legal action against the police for what transpired.
“We have not yet finalized our legal strategy, but at this point I would expect that we will sue both the RCMP and the York Regional Police, as well as Chrystia Freeland, for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and assault,” Levant told CBC News.
The Mounties are facing criticism for arresting Rebel News personality David Menzies as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland arrived at an event Monday. Charges were later dropped after police found ‘no credible security threat,’ York Regional Police say. The Power Panel weighs in on the political optics of the arrest.
“These government defendants will have unlimited public resources, whereas we take no public funds. Therefore we will crowdfund David’s litigation.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre condemned the arrest, reposting a video of the incident with the message: “This is the state of freedom of the press. In Canada. In 2024. After eight years of Trudeau.”
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, the party’s civil liberties critic, said in a media statement she wants the House of Commons heritage committee to be recalled from its winter break to study the matter and “demand transparency and accountability” regarding Menzies’ arrest.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
