The Independent Press Gallery of Canada has issued a statement condemning Rachel Notley, the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP), for her banning outlets from covering NDP organized press conferences.
The condemnation follows an incident during a press conference on Monday, April 17, where security contractors hired by the Alberta NDP removed two journalists, Keean Bexte from The Counter Signal and Alex Dhaliwal from Rebel News.
The Press Gallery accuses Notley of bullying and intimidating members of the press who ask tough questions or criticize her policies. The Gallery claims that Notley has repeatedly singled out individual journalists for criticism, and has blacklisted media outlets that she believes are not sufficiently supportive of her government.
“Independent journalism is vital to a healthy Canadian mediasphere, and reporters should not be blacklisted simply because they don’t work for large government-subsidized media organizations,” said Andrew Lawton, President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada and Host of the Andrew Lawton Show.
Keean Bexte, Editor-in-Chief of this outlet and member of the Independent Press Gallery said that “it is concerning to see a political leader try to silence dissent and undermine the free press.”
The statement from the Press Gallery comes after several incidents in which Notley clashed with journalists. Notley has defended her actions, arguing that it is her political opponent and current Premier, Danielle Smith who is the enemy of the free press for not taking follow up questions from reporters.
Danielle Smith has not banned any outlets from covering Alberta government or United Conservative Party news conferences
The Independent Press Gallery of Canada believes that Notley’s treatment of journalists runs contrary to the expectations that Albertans have for a free press, and is calling on her to commit to allowing independent media outlets to cover all future Alberta NDP press conferences, as well as maintaining press access for independent media if her party wins the general election.
