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EDMONTON – The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) has filed for judicial review after Alberta Health Services (AHS) banned independent journalist Mocha Bezirgan from all AHS properties for one year. Alberta Health Services provides public health care throughout the province.

The ban followed Bezirgan’s attempt to interview a doctor at Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital while investigating allegations concerning the doctor’s medical qualifications and the death of a two-year-old girl.

On March 25, 2026, Bezirgan entered the hospital and asked to speak with the doctor. After being told the doctor did not wish to speak with him, Bezirgan left. AHS Protective Services subsequently banned him from its properties including hospitals and clinics across the province for one year, except in cases of emergency or with pre-approval.

Bezirgan only learned of the ban on July 26, 2026, when an RCMP officer approached him outside the hospital as he attempted to speak with the doctor a second time. He was then provided a copy of a trespass notice, and learned that violating it could result in up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

On July 31, 2026, CCF Counsel Alexander Surgenor wrote to AHS demanding that the ban be rescinded, given that AHS had failed to hear Bezirgan’s side of the story or consider his freedom of expression. AHS did not rescind the ban.

Bezirgan is now being represented by Surgenor and CCF Litigation Director Josh Dehaas. The CCF is asking the court to quash the ban on the basis that it was procedurally unfair and unreasonable and declare that it violated Bezirgan’s rights under sections 2(b) and 7 of the Charter. 

The application argues that banning a journalist from every AHS property in Alberta for a full year is an extreme and overbroad restriction on freedom of expression and the press, and that requiring Bezirgan to obtain advance approval to access AHS facilities for medical care also puts his life, liberty and security of the person at risk.

“Mr. Bezirgan went to a public hospital, asked to speak with the subject of a story he was working on, and left when he was told that person did not want to speak with him,” said Surgenor. “For that, AHS banned him from hospitals across Alberta for an entire year without even telling him. That is an egregiously inappropriate use of government power.”

“Good journalism often means asking questions that people in positions of power would rather not answer,” said Dehaas. “A government institution cannot punish a journalist for asking questions,” he added “Canadians have a right to know what’s happening inside their institutions.”

Mr. Bezirgan’s reporting is available on his website, MediaBezirgan.com, and on YouTube.