BREAKING: MP speaks out about Ottawa's criminal probe into Juno News
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner joined today's Candice Malcom Show and offered her thoughts on Ottawa's investigation into Juno News reporter Keean Bexte
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Another Conservative MP is speaking up after Ottawa launched a criminal investigation into the election reporting of Juno News journalist and co-founder Keean Bexte.
During an interview on Thursday’s ‘Candice Malcolm Show,’ Conservative MP and immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Conservatives would stand by free speech and accused the Liberals of suppressing independent journalism.
Malcolm asked Rempel Garner what her thoughts were on the investigation into a story Bexte wrote pertaining to allegations against former Liberal candidate Thomas Keeper during the last federal election.
“For me, and all of my Conservative colleagues, we believe in free speech. It’s why we opposed the Liberal censorship bills—Bill C-11 and C-18,” Rempel Garner said.
“From what I know about the story, the part of the Elections Act they’re using is Section 91. We opposed that. Conservatives did. So we stand on free speech.”
The controversial section 91(1) of the Canada Elections Act prohibits knowingly reporting false criminal accusations about a candidate with the intention of swaying election results. Juno News has vehemently denied such allegations and stands by its reporting.
If convicted under section 91 of the Canada Elections Act, Bexte could face a maximum of $50,000 in fines and five years in prison.
Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer previously recommended the government amend or repeal section 91, noting that “serious cases of defamation or libel could be dealt with through alternative civil or criminal legal mechanisms.”
In 2021, an Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down section 91(1) as an unjustified infringement on free expression, but the Liberal government never repealed the section of the Act outright, instead making minor changes.
“The role of media in Canada is to hold people like me and the government to account,” Rempel Garner said. “And you’ve seen the Liberals use a variety of mechanisms over the last several years—like the two bills I just mentioned—to suppress independent journalism.”
She also highlighted Meta's news bans, a consequence of the Liberal Online Streaming Act, which sought to compel social media companies to pay for news content shared by Canadian outlets on their platforms.
“We need to see a change. We won’t have growth, innovation, or government accountability if the government’s primary objective is to suppress freedom of speech,” she added. “Of course, we’re going to stand up for that and hold the Liberals to account.”
Conservative MP for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, and former True North independent journalist Andrew Lawton posted on X Wednesday that the investigation into Bexte was "ridiculous” and that “journalism is not a crime.”
Christine Van Geyn, litigation director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation, expressed her “disturbance” on X regarding the investigation into Bexte’s report. She characterized the investigation as "weaponizing the law to stop journalism that the government doesn’t like.”
The CCF was part of the legal challenge against section 91(1) which led to the Ontario court declaring the section unconstitutional.
The Independent Press Gallery, of which True North journalists are registered members, also defended Bexte’s reporting, stating the investigation amounted to “censorship by prosecution.”
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