Pierre to the rescue! - Shawn Loughlin editorial

Life is not easy for journalists right now. Distrust in news is on the rise, turning a buck remains a challenge and freedom of the press is under attack all over the world.

 

And yet, I sleep easy knowing that Pierre Poilievre is in my corner. A fierce advocate for the freedom of the press, the would-be Prime Minister and federal Conservative Party leader has let it be known that he will fight for me.

 

Well, not me. More like for David Menzies’ prominent Indiana Jones-like hat, as well as Menzies of Rebel News himself (and his hat).

 

Taking a break from trying to make the term “transanity” happen, “The Menzoid” spoke to Deputy-Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Richmond Hill and was promptly scooped up and arrested by a York Regional Police officer who identified the charge as “assault” in video from Rebel News. Menzies was briefly detained, apparently, though not charged as the police found “no credible security threat”. At the risk of siding with Menzies (ugh), from the video of the incident, it did not appear that he needed to be arrested, detained or charged. 

 

For years, it’s just been the easy way out for police and governments. No one will stick up for a journalist trying to do his job, however, if a police officer lets a journalist get a little too close to a crime scene, or a politician lets a reporter slip into a room they’re not supposed to be in, he or she is sure to be reprimanded. As a result, you turf the reporter and figure out whether it was the right thing to do later. 

 

Thankfully, Poilievre has come to the rescue for all of the hard-working journalists out there by creating a petition to support a free press. In doing so, he’s using Rebel News (I won’t go over their credentials - they’re exactly what you think they are; Poilievre supports them) to pretend like he cares about the freedom of the press. Even in his post he talks about media being “bought off with bailouts” which doesn’t include Rebel News, which is not recognized as a legitimate news outlet by many. 

 

Poilievre’s care for the fifth estate doesn’t seem to extend to CBC (which he said did not report on Menzies’ arrest - a lie), which he has vowed to defund. He didn’t seem to show any respect to Don Urquhart, the reporter Poilievre attempted to humiliate in his infamous apple-chomping video, which is the personification of “I know you are, but what am I?” and speaks volumes about his supporters.

 

Those are just the tip of the iceberg for a man who has desperately grasped at an opportunity for his 15 minutes of fame by sucking up to Freedom Convoy protestors and anti-vaccine figures - all while subverting traditional media.

 

Perhaps I missed his social media outrage when Richard Vivian of Guelph Today was detained and had his camera seized by police or the numerous cases of journalists being silenced, arrested and even killed in their quest for the truth. But, now that it’s happened to an extreme right-wing loudmouth, who yells at trans people for a living, trying to pester a Liberal politician, it’s now his cause célèbre.

 

So, I can’t honestly say that having Pierre Poilievre as a staunch defender of the freedom of the press helps me to sleep more soundly at night. He has repeatedly shown disdain for those in my profession. 

 

Now, this is no love letter to Justin Trudeau, who, despite his support for Canadian media, hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with reporters when it comes to his own comings and goings (indeed, new polling suggests that Trudeau and his party have reached a new low in the minds of Canadians with 58 per cent of people not approving of the government), but more of a reality check for Poilievre and his supporters.