Juno News - Andrew Lawton gets BANNED from covering Trudeau event

00:00:00.000 Andrew Lawton here for True North. I'm right now in a little suburb of Brampton, Ontario where

00:00:15.480 Justin Trudeau, the Liberal leader and Prime Minister, just made a policy announcement in

00:00:19.440 the backyard of a supporter's home. Now I don't actually know what was announced because I was

00:00:24.660 banned from covering the press conference. True North, despite RSVPing and despite having no

00:00:29.680 indication from the Liberal press office that there was a problem. I was not allowed to enter the yard

00:00:35.360 where this was taking place. I was told that I was not an accredited member of the media by the

00:00:40.100 Liberal press secretary who couldn't actually articulate what accreditation means. So what's

00:00:44.560 the definition of journalist that you're working off of? I mean there's not a dictionary definition

00:00:50.340 that we follow obviously but there are different organizations that accredit journalists as you

00:00:54.100 know, Press Gallery, Queen's Park Press Gallery. And I contacted the Press Gallery and they said they

00:00:57.760 don't claim any jurisdiction for events. We don't know but we rely on their definition for there are

00:01:03.280 all kinds of people who come and say that they're journalists for events but we obviously reserve

00:01:06.780 the space and the access for journalists. And you know who I am though, we've talked, I've interviewed

00:01:12.320 the leader before. I know but right now you cite yourself as a journalism fellow. Yes and if you go to

00:01:20.700 the website you can see journalism that I'm doing and you have other columnists and commentators that are

00:01:25.340 here as well so it's not an issue of their organizations are accredited by other organizations

00:01:30.060 that are reputable. So I'm just curious what what are you or what is the Prime Minister afraid of will

00:01:33.980 happen if I'm in there? It's not that we're afraid it's just that there are a lot of people who come

00:01:37.400 and say that they're asked for access to events and we credit people based on... Can we go a little bit that way?

00:01:43.580 Yeah I'd rather not though. Yeah no we know we're just a little bit past here. Because I'm still

00:01:48.300 unclear on why I'm being barred as a member of the Canadian media from covering an event based on...

00:01:55.580 Well based on work that I can do. I mean you you can google my name you know exactly the work that

00:01:59.500 I've done. You and I have corresponded in your capacity as a press secretary. So behind me you may

00:02:04.140 be able to see the press bus. I was hoping to be on that bus to cover the Liberal Tour from here on out.

00:02:08.940 I will not be allowed on that bus. I have been effectively banned from covering the Liberal

00:02:13.660 campaign. Which means I've got to do this the old-fashioned way. So I've got to hitch a ride

00:02:17.660 to Hamilton where the next Liberal event is or rent a car. I don't know how I'm going to get there

00:02:21.260 yet. I literally came with luggage for a week thinking I was going to be doing some real work.

00:02:25.980 But the government press office or the Liberal press office is making sure that's possible

00:02:30.220 only to their hand-picked journalists by a definition they are not able to provide.

00:02:35.580 Medicare for autism now. Why have I been banned from covering your press conference?

00:02:40.620 Why are you banning media Prime Minister? Why are you banning media from covering your press

00:02:45.420 conference sir? Prime Minister Medicare for autism now Prime Minister. So much for press freedom.

00:02:54.380 So we're going to do this the old-fashioned way and I need your help to do it. True North isn't

00:02:58.460 getting a piece of that 600 million dollar press pie. We are doing this all by your support. So if you can

00:03:04.300 chip in a few dollars to our election coverage fund and get me wherever that bus is going,

00:03:08.700 I'd mightily appreciate it. For True North, I'm Andrew Lawton.

Juno News - September 23, 2019