Canadians are frustrated after the last leaders’ debate yesterday night did not end as expected with the media scrums cancelled for security reasons.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet faced each other on Thursday evening in Montreal, Que, following the French-language debate on Wednesday night.
The English-language leaders’ debate, hosted by CBC, was the last chance candidates had to discuss important issues to voters, including public and national security, cost of living, and economic policies, before advanced voting opened today ahead of election day on April 28.
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But the end of the debate took a turn when Leaders’ Debates Commission Executive Director Michel Cormier announced that the post-debate party scrums had been cancelled. The scrums would have allowed accredited journalists to ask the leaders follow-up questions, providing an important opportunity to hear more from the candidates before voters head to the polls.
“Sorry to announce that there will be no scrum tonight for the news because we don’t feel that we can actually guarantee a proper environment for this activity,” he told reporters at the scene.
Heavy Montreal police presence was seen outside of the CBC building where the debate took place, as officers tapped off its entrance.
Although the director didn’t specify the reason for the cancellation, both CTV News and the Globe and Mail reported that security concerns were raised in the media centre, when right-wing media outlet Rebel News’ staff argued with debate organizers.
The discussion began after Rebel reporters had allegedly been lining up ahead of the end of the debate to ask questions, while journalists usually wait until the debate is finished before joining the line, according to CTV News.
Another reporter from Global News said on X that Rebel News had also allegedly tried to take over the CBC live broadcast during the debate, which also sparked concerns.
A source with direct knowledge says the Debates Commission's decision to cancel the scrums re "not being able to guarantee a proper environment" was related to The Rebel… including Rebel staff trying to interrupt/get on the air during a CBC broadcast that was live earlier…
— Mercedes Stephenson (@MercedesGlobal) April 18, 2025
Following the scrum cancellation, CBC reporter Rosemary Barton addressed the situation during the live broadcast.
“That is because the Commission allowed people who are not part of the media—who are right-wing activists—to come in that room and act as though they were members of the media,” she said.
“It made for a very fraught environment, and there were a number of conflicts that led to the fact that this is where we ended up tonight.”
Another CBC reporter, David Cochrane, also chimed in saying that “rage farming” in the current political scene is a threat to democracy, mentioning he didn’t want to dive into the specifics of the incident.
“Democracy is fragile, it’s not guaranteed. And it has to be fought for and protected—not just on the big moments like leaders’ debate, but on all the small moments in between,” he said during the broadcast.
“The rage farming that has gone into politics is corrosive, destructive and toxic. And it is disrupting the norms and the values of civic virtue in this country, and it boiled up tonight,” he added.
After the French-language debate on Wednesday, reporters from different outlets had complained about the presence of Rebel News reporters at the scrum, and their so-called monopolization of the question period.
At the time, NDP Leader Singh also refused to answer questions from Rebel News reporters, saying that he would not “respond to an organization that promotes misinformation and disinformation.”
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On Thursday night, Rebel News’ publisher Ezra Levant responded to these complaints with his version of the events during the English-language debate in an X post, saying that he was trying to speak with CBC staff to address the outlet’s presence in the debate as an accredited media agency.
When I approached the CBC during a commercial break to ask for the right of reply, they went apoplectic and said they would give me none, and no, there was no-one I could talk to. I politely left — but they called security, and demanded I be deported from the event.
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) April 18, 2025
CANADIANS DISAPPOINTED WITH CANCELLATION
Canadians are disappointed online over the scrum cancellation, with some agreeing that the debate commission should have a better process for accrediting journalists.
“Just a threat against our democracy. Rebel News should have never been allowed in to disrupting the event,” one user said on X.
“Hopefully this spells the end of Debates Commission. Canadians deserve better,” another user wrote.
“The fake journalists that support Poilievre on the right accosted real journalists inside the #debate2025 room and made such a scene that the post-debate scrum had to be cancelled for security reasons. It says a lot about Canada’s loony right wing and their enablers,” a different user said on Bluesky.
Meanwhile, some Canadians believe that journalists from different organizations should be allowed to ask their questions at scrums to allow for diversity of questions and perspectives.
“No tough questions allowed. Private journalists ask better questions than mainstream media: real journalists were canceled,” an X user said.
“The one time right wing media got to ask questions the liberals lost their minds, complained, and got the next post debate questions cancelled. this was pathetic for the debate commissioner to do,” another user chimed in.
