FULLY EXONERATED: Federal election investigators quietly close criminal probe into Juno News
Ottawa’s Senior Director of Enforcement informed me that the federal investigation into myself and Juno News has been closed.
After nearly a year of losing sleep over the prospect of a five-year prison sentence, Ottawa’s Senior Director of Enforcement, informed me that the federal investigation into myself and Juno News has been closed.
No charges were laid.
No evidence of wrongdoing was found.
No apology was offered for the stress, reputational damage, or taxpayer resources consumed by a politically explosive criminal investigation into election reporting.
“Please be advised we have concluded our investigation and no further action will be undertaken against you concerning this matter,” the federal office informed me via lettermail.
Reading between the lines, after ten months of trying to determine the criminality of my journalism, federal investigators came up short.
Funnily enough, Thomas Keeper is something of an authority on that subject.
The probe stemmed from my reporting on Keeper during the last federal election campaign, where he served as Mark Carney’s bravest, yet littlest, warrior in Alberta.
After Carney’s Liberals nominated Keeper in the critical Calgary Confederation riding, nearly a dozen sources with personal knowledge of him approached this reporter, both on and off the record, alleging shocking conduct. More on that here.
Juno News pursued the story carefully. We repeatedly sought comment from both Keeper and the Liberal Party before publication. We attempted to speak to Keeper in person at his campaign office, to which he scurried away, called the police, and lied to officers.
Hours later, the Liberals dropped Keeper as their candidate.
Then Ottawa turned its attention toward the journalists instead.
Federal investigators examined whether our reporting violated section 91(1) of the Canada Elections Act, a controversial election speech provision carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Canadians like to think we live in a free country, with open elections underpinned by freedom of speech. This investigation tells a very different story.
For ten months, the federal government investigated a journalist over election reporting that embarrassed the ruling party. If your reporting damages the regime, you had better be prepared to hire lawyers, drain your savings, and live under the threat of criminal prosecution.
I did sometimes wonder whether the Liberals’ famously generous bail policies would have applied to me.
And it’s not just me calling this Trudeau-era law dangerous. Even Elections Canada’s former Chief Electoral Officer previously recommended repealing it over concerns that it could chill political speech and journalism during election campaigns.
Yet despite those warnings, federal authorities still subjected an independent media outlet to months of criminal scrutiny over reporting that proved consequential enough for the Liberal Party itself to abandon its own candidate.
The investigation may be over, but the message from Ottawa was crystal clear: independent journalism is welcome right up until it becomes effective.
While the criminal probe into Juno News is officially closed, the reality of what it takes to survive as an independent outlet in Canada has never been clearer. When you report the stories that embarrass the ruling regime, you don't just face typical media criticism; you face the full weight of state institutions.
We refused to be intimidated, and we refused to back down, because we don't answer to Ottawa or rely on federal media handouts to keep the lights on. It is exactly this kind of high-stakes, uncompromising reporting that defines our mission, and it's why the 2026 Independent Journalism Fund is so vital to keeping us entirely free, entirely uncensored, and permanently dangerous to the powerful.
Looking back on the last year, would I change anything?
No.
If anything, this experience taught me that the people in power are more willing than ever to use state institutions against their political enemies and critics.
The lesson they wanted journalists to learn was simple: stay quiet.
I will not be learning that lesson.
Good for you, Keane and Juno. Keep up the excellent work. Canada really needs you more than ever.
A win for the good guys!