The Conservative Party of Canada is breaking from decades of tradition. It won’t allow the media to travel alongside its leader as he campaigns for Canada’s top political job.
This is a big deal. It’s a huge blow to accountability. Oh, and it’s pretty chickenshit.
For decades, media has gotten seats on election campaign tours. The news organizations pay the party for the cost of travel and other fees — often a hefty price tag — to ensure they’re not getting free stuff from the people they cover.
This is how they can closely watch and report on the stuff the people who want to run our country get up to as they travel around the country and make promises to Canadians.
Instead, media hoping to follow the Conservative campaign will have to scramble to follow Pierre Poilievre as he hops around the second-largest country in the world. If they can’t book last-minute travel with their dwindling budgets, they’ll have to rely on the Conservative-Party-provided broadcast feeds.
What could go wrong?
Let’s talk about it.
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