WHITBY—It took two police forces on Monday to get the far-right Rebel Media escorted as far as possible from Andrew Scheer.

The expulsion began with an RCMP officer, part of the Conservative leader’s personal security detail, gently nudging Rebel News correspondent David Menzies away from the gaggle of media and out into a corridor as reporters awaited Scheer’s arrival.

Then, having reached the border of its jurisdiction — and with Menzies vocally holding court in the hallway, demanding his right to report — the Mounties called in the Durham Regional Police, which finished the job, banishing the rebel to a sidewalk at the outer edge of Whitby’s state-of-the-art Abilities Centre.

Officially, Scheer was here for a fairly modest campaign announcement — a pledge to introduce the Fairness For Persons With Disabilities Act that, if passed, would expand the definition of what counts as life-sustaining therapy to allow an additional 35,000 Canadians to qualify for tax credits averaging $2,100 a year.

Instead, the scene morphed into the Exiling of Conservatives With Extremist Baggage Act, with Scheer’s handlers keeping their leader sequestered for a 30-minute delay to ensure no face-to-face encounters with the barred correspondent.

Asked about the ouster of Rebel during the subsequent news conference, Scheer didn’t say much. He simply repeated his pledge to not give any more interviews to the Rebel (he spoke to them once) and noted that this event was for accredited media only — indicating that the Rebel, if ever it did, no longer qualifies for such status under Conservative policy.

Conservative aides accompanying Scheer were a bit more forthcoming. While the party is unable to stop Rebel News from attending large public rallies on the campaign trail, “closed, private events” like Monday’s news announcement in Whitby are a no-go zone for the Rebel.

Rebel Media's David Menzies is ousted from Andrew Scheer event in Ajax today by a plainclothes RCMP officer detailed to the Conservative leader. Menzies is forced to leave the room -- but there was an additional 30 minute delay while Durham Regional Police were called to escort Menzies off the premises. A Conservative official said the far-right news outlet is not welcome at any Scheer news events, saying: "We don't accredit people with a history of political activism."

That’s been the policy since the start of the campaign three weeks ago, one Conservative aide told the Star. But it never came to a head until Monday because this was the first time anyone from Rebel News attempted to attend.

“We don’t accredit people with a history of political activism,” the Conservative campaign aide told the Star.

So there you have it. Anyone from The Rebel Without An Accreditation now is persona-non-grata, as far as Team Scheer is concerned.

News of the banishment comes in the wake of a series of stories — going back to one by Justin Ling in The Walrus in 2017 — unpacking the close ties between Scheer’s campaign manager Hamish Marshall and Rebel founder Ezra Levant.

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The Star found Menzies standing on the curb after the event was over. In a brief exchange, he maintained he had not arrived intending to make a scene and was baffled that Scheer would not let him attend.

“It’s a press event, right? He wants to convey a message. … we have almost 1.3 million YouTube subscribers and the vast majority, I assume, lean right of centre. This is what has me scratching my head,” said Menzies. “That’s our audience. That’s his audience. It’s baffling.”

Less baffling, however, is what happened next. Though it took until halfway through the campaign for Rebel News to test its status by actually doing what news organizations do — sending a reporter to cover an Andrew Scheer news conference — it took mere minutes for Rebel boss Ezra Levant to spiral into maximum outrage mode, launching a petition and fundraising campaign around “today’s outrageous treatment of David Menzies.”

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