Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lamented the troubling state of the free press in Canada after news circulated that a Rebel Media journalist was arrested while trying to question Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Poilievre took to X to condemn the incident after a video of the arrest went viral on social media.
“This is the state of freedom of the press,” wrote Poilievre on X. “In Canada. In 2024. After 8 years of Trudeau.”
Menzies, a journalist for Rebel News, attempted to question Freeland on Monday about why the Trudeau government hasn’t deemed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity.
The exchange took place in Richmond Hill, Ont. outside a memorial service commemorating the victims of Flight PS752.
Menzies was arrested in the exchange and the officer arresting him claimed that Menzies assaulted him, although the journalist was eventually released without any charges.
Later, Menzies can be seen asking for the police officer’s name and badge number multiple times but is denied the information and subsequently taken away by police.
Flight PS752 was shot down by Iranian missiles, killing all 167 passengers on board, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents on Jan. 8 2020.
The attack happened during rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the assassination of chief military leader Qasem Soleimani.
Elon Musk also commented on the video of Menzies’ exchange with Freeland and her security, writing, “They won’t make it past the next election,” referring to the Liberal Party of Canada.
The Iranian regime continues to silence those in Canada who speak out against them and a recent probe into foreign interference in Canada revealed that over 700 Iranian agents are covertly operating within the country.
This has led to a growing effort to have the IRGC labelled as a terrorist entity by the federal government from people like Poilievre and independent MP Kevin Vuong.
“How could you allow the same terrorist group that murdered 55 of our citizens and 30 of our permanent residents to operate legally in Canada? How could you let them recruit and raise funds on Canadian soil? How could you allow 700 agents of the Iranian terrorist regime to live freely here, using the money they stole from the poorest people in the world to terrorize our Jewish and Persian populations, putting all of us at risk? How could you risk all of that to appease this terrorist organization?” asked Poilievre in a recent video posted to X.
On Monday, Vuong wrote on X, “Today marks the 4-yr anniversary of the downing of #PS752. 1,461 days later…Despite promises to @zarei_arad and the families of the victims, the Trudeau govt still has not listed the #IRGC as a terrorist organization. The IRGC killed 57 Canadians & 119 others. List them—now.”
