Subhead:Parliamentary Press Gallery execs, mostly employed by CBC and the Canadian Press, determine which journalists can access Parliament Hill.#
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre continued his tirade against taxpayer-funded journalism, this time bashing the Parliamentary Press Gallery as “highly undemocratic.”
“Independent media should be allowed on the precinct,” Poilievre said in an interview with Juno News. “There is no reason why it should be a small cabal of government-approved mouthpieces.”
His remarks followed a 2019 court ruling that overturned the blacklisting of Rebel News and Juno News, formerly True North, based on secretive “internal media accreditation guidelines.”
The feds blacklisted both outlets from attending televised leadership debates that year, reported Blacklock’s.
Pierre Poilievre says independent media should be allowed in the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Watch Candice Malcolm’s full interview with Poilievre by subscribing to Juno News: https://t.co/rzk6eWLDCY pic.twitter.com/JhO7Pp6Vqk
— Juno News (@junonewscom) February 13, 2025
“I have always believed that,” Poilievre said, “and it has made it particularly difficult for me [as] when I go and hold a press conference it’s just Liberal media who are there to attend.”
He notes that member broadcasters are too reliant on federal subsidies, with independent media often shut out.
“I would love to see a scenario where every different kind of journalist from all backgrounds, of all opinions, is given a chance to report on what happens on the Hill,” the Tory MP said.
Blacklock’s is the only accredited news agency that neither accepts nor solicits federal funding, the publication said.
