Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre declined to attend a debate hosted by independent media.

On Friday, the Independent Press Gallery of Canada (IPG) put out a statement saying that the debate planned for May 30, 2022, was cancelled “due to an insufficient number of candidates participating.”

“This would give candidates the unique opportunity to speak directly to the growing number of Canadians, and especially Conservative party members, who don’t trust the legacy media and consume their news entirely from independent media,” wrote the IPG. 

“Unfortunately, this vision of an independent debate did not come to fruition.” 

Poilievre, along with fellow contenders Scott Aitchison and Patrick Brown, were excluded from a list of candidates who did agree to attend.

“I would like to personally thank Roman Baber, Jean Charest and Leslyn Lewis for confirming their attendance at the debate,” said journalist and IPG President Candice Malcolm. 

“It’s clear that their criticisms of the legacy media are authentic – and we truly value their commitment to independent media.”

Poilievre has attended all of the debates planned for the race to date, including the debate hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network earlier this month. All candidates will also participate in a French-language debate on May 25, 2022. 

It is unclear why Poilievre declined the invitation to attend. 

Poilievre has repeatedly criticized the mainstream media for bias and their attacks on the trucker convoy. 

In January, Poilievre sang the praises of independent media outlets after they were blacklisted by the Bank of Canada from asking questions. 

“Bank of Canada is so used to softball questions from press gallery sycophants that it blacklists the few independent media who might ask interesting questions,” tweeted Poilievre.