Rebel News Fails to Overturn Election Law Fines for Third-Party Ads
Rebel News has lost its appeal against fines for violating election laws related to third-party advertising during the 2019 campaign
Rebel News, Ezra Levant, Justin Trudeau, Canada, Election Law
Ottawa: So, here’s the scoop. The Federal Court of Appeal just shot down Rebel News Network’s attempt to get rid of those $3,000 fines. These fines were slapped on them by the elections commissioner.
What’s the deal? Back in 2021, the commissioner found that Rebel News had put up lawn signs during the 2019 federal election. These signs were meant to promote a book by their founder, Ezra Levant.
The book was called “The Libranos,” and it was all about what the media supposedly wasn’t telling us about Trudeau’s corruption. The signs even had a design that looked like something from “The Sopranos,” which is pretty cheeky.
But the elections commissioner wasn’t having it. They decided those signs were actually election ads since they were clearly aimed at opposing a political party and its leader during the campaign.
As a result, Rebel News got hit with a $1,500 fine for not registering as a third party and another $1,500 for not including a required tag line on those lawn signs.
Fast forward to 2023, and the Federal Court also turned down Rebel News’ request for a judicial review. So, they took their fight to the Federal Court of Appeal, but it looks like that didn’t work out either.
This whole saga was first reported by The Canadian Press on January 10, 2025. Just goes to show, sometimes the law is a tough nut to crack!