If there are those still among us who don't know who Pierre Poilievre is, his first press conference after becoming the leader of the Conservatives should settle the matter. Karyn Pugliese writes:
By now the video has gone viral. At least by Canadian standards.
It shows newly minted Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre being heckled at his debut news conference by Global News chief political correspondent David Akin.
Before the news conference started, reporters had been told there would be no questions, but Akin asked questions anyway, shouting them out from the floor, drowning out Poilievre’s statement.
At first, Poilievre tried to brush it off as a joke, saying a “liberal heckler” must have shown up. Then he pushed back saying he’d never heard Akin interrupt the prime minister this way. Finally, Poilievre capitulated under pressure and agreed he’d allow two questions from the media. He then restarted his speech without further interruption.
Pugliese asks:
Who the hell calls a press conference, then tells reporters they can’t ask questions?
It’s right in the words: P-R-E-S-S conference.
Dear politicians, if you want to reach the public without the media, you’re free to open a Facebook page or post more of your spicy attack ads to YouTube. Maybe suck up a few million taxpayers' dollars to fund a PR “war room” like Jason Kenney and if your voters keep coming back, more power to you. You can even launch your own news site like Doug Ford did.
However, there are still citizens in this democracy who invest their time and money to support a free press. They want journalists to represent them, to seek truth and demand accountability.Poilievre demands accountability of others, but he assumes there is none required of him. Make no mistake. He's an authoritarian. And we will see more of the same kind of behaviour.
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