(LifeSiteNews) — Canada’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to end the mainstream media’s stronghold over the Parliamentary Press Gallery, calling the current system “highly undemocratic” in which only a “small cabal of government-approved mouthpieces” are permitted membership.
“There is no reason why it should be a small cabal of government-approved mouthpieces,” Poilievre said in an interview with Juno News, calling the current system “highly undemocratic” and vowing to allow “independent media” in the “precinct.”
Poilievre remarked that the current situation in the press gallery has made it “particularly difficult for me because it means when I go and hold a press conference it’s just liberal media who are there to attend,” implying that the system itself contributes to political bias in news coverage.
Poilievre noted that he 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.”
As it stands now, to gain accreditation to the press gallery, a news outlet must be approved by an executive committee in secret. The reality is that 5 out of the 9 current executive committee members work for the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Canadian Press.
When looking further, a whopping 39 out of 46 media companies with press gallery accreditation get federal money via grants or subsidies.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government pledged to increase the CBC’s funding to some $2 billion annually.
There have been multiple instances of the CBC pushing what appears to be ideological content, including the creation of pro-LGBT material for kids, tacitly endorsing the gender mutilation of children, promoting euthanasia, and even seeming to justify the burning of mostly Catholic churches throughout the country.
Poilievre many times before has said he will defund the CBC should his Conservative Party form government.