OP-ED: Mark Carney continues Trudeau’s legacy of silencing independent voices

Sue-Ann Levy writes: "Two weeks into the federal election, I am convinced that Mark Carney — the banker who anointed himself as Canadian PM—is more dangerous than his predecessor Justin Trudeau."

Source: Facebook

Author: Sue-Ann Levy

Two weeks into the federal election, I am convinced that Mark Carney — the banker who anointed himself as Canadian Prime Minister—is more dangerous than his predecessor Justin Trudeau.

After watching the smug, power-mad volunteers at Carney’s rally Friday night ban and even threaten with arrest those independent media “not on the list” I’m beginning to wonder if he fancies himself a dictator.

When Caryma Sa’d — an independent journalist I’ve come to know and respect for her fairness since I retired from the Toronto Sun — tried to get into a rally at a Scarborough church, she was stopped at the door by four pathetic girly men drunk with their own power. She kept telling them she’d registered and indeed, as she told me Sunday, she signed up “well in advance.”

She said she even received a text message telling her the details about the venue would be forthcoming. But she never received the follow-up correspondence.

One girly man, who never took off his sunglasses even though it was starting to get dark, smirked that even though she may have registered for the rally, she didn’t have the QR code and she wasn’t “on the list.” She told me, and I could see on her video from the incident, that he was “very smug” about denying her entry and said “we know who you are.”

When she dared ask this smug coward (he never took off his sunglasses) to elaborate as to why she’d been profiled, two others jumped into the fray (likely with the intent of intimidating her): A pot-bellied man wearing a huge cross who claimed to be “security” and another man wearing a security vest who appeared way out of his depth.

She said she discerned from remarks made by the RCMP there that the Liberal party had provided a list of people not allowed to be on-site and she was on said list.

From the looks of the videos shot that night, these bullies were clearly enjoying every minute of the interchange with Caryma— which in my view speaks to the pettiness, misogynism and vindictiveness of Carney’s volunteers.

I was thrown out of and banned from more than one event where a hard-nosed columnist was not welcome during my time at the Toronto Sun. But never in my 30-plus years as a journalist was I stopped from attending an event for someone running for elected office.

Sa’d said she was not just barred from entering the venue but was informed she was trespassing in the parking lot where the speeches were being broadcast in real time on a large screen. She was informed that if she did not leave “voluntarily” she could be arrested for trespass. Her attempts to speak with an organizer to try and clear things up were denied. She said she spent the rest of the evening on the public sidewalk.

According to video recordings, my old friend Dave Menzies of Rebel News was also targeted by the pot-bellied security guy for interviewing someone in the parking lot of the venue.

The pot-bellied security guard with the huge cross informed him as well that he was trespassing while standing in the parking lot.

Sa’d said she found it “extremely unsettling” to be arbitrarily banned from the event especially because she has no history of being disruptive.

”My work and credentials are undeniable whether they like what I say or not,” said the practicing lawyer who was also denied entry at one of Carney’s leadership events in Milton.

“There is a certain irony in a brown Muslim Indo-Palestinian woman being targeted by people who likely consider themselves to be progressive, inclusive allies.”

I asked Sa’d if this had also happened with PC leader Pierre Polievre. She said she was banned from two Polievre rallies in 2023 but after an outcry from her supporters, the CPC reversed its ban.

That said, if Carney can’t handle a fair-minded independent journalist shooting video of his speech to would-be voters — and the large contingent of Toronto candidates and their supporters who attended the event (to bolster the numbers?) — perhaps he’s in the wrong business.

It’s bad enough he’s anointed himself as PM after a highly suspect leadership race.

But now he’s in the big leagues. Last I looked he’s not vying for ruler in Soviet Russia or Iraq or any other country where the voting is fixed.

Aside from the sheer autocratic nature of the ban on independent journalists, it shows how out of touch the Carney team is with the realities of the media landscape.

More and more people, disgusted with the biased narrative and selective reporting of left-leaning media like the CBC, are turning to independent media for their information.

President Donald Trump’s media team have recognised this and has provided seating for independent media in the White House press room.

It shows how disconnected, arrogant and just plain out of gas the Liberals and their subsidized media are if Carney is so easily threatened by journalists who think for themselves.

I laugh at the thought that this anointed PM believes he has the guts to handle Trump.

This is proof he does not.