Conservatives are limiting media access to Poilievre. Is it helping or hurting him?

Mark Gollom · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

At a quality league successful Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., connected Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ignored a CTV reporter's question astir his refusal to get a information clearance, alternatively dismissing her arsenic "just a protester."

The newsman had shouted the question retired of turn, arsenic she was not 1 of the 4 journalists who had been chosen by the run to airs a question that day.

The country seemed to exemplify the ongoing challenges facing journalists covering the Conservative campaign, which has given the media limited entree to the Conservative leader. But immoderate governmental analysts question whether this strategy, that whitethorn person been utile erstwhile Justin Trudeau was his expected opponent, inactive provides Poilievre with a governmental advantage.

'Strategy doesn't look to beryllium working': Pollster

David Coletto, founder and CEO of Ottawa-based polling and marketplace probe steadfast Abacus Data, said a strategy to bounds media entree to Poilievre was a harmless one, erstwhile helium was truthful acold ahead of Trudeau. He said the extremity was to power arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to conscionable get to the decorativeness line.

"That strategy doesn't look to beryllium moving due to the fact that the full scenery has changed," Coletto said.

That alteration included the resignation of Trudeau, the predetermination of Mark Carney arsenic the Liberal person and a caller governmental situation formed by the economic menace posed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariffs against Canada.

Poilievre, who had been up by astatine slightest 25 points, saw his pb vanish, with polls present suggesting helium and the Conservatives are trailing the Liberals.

Still, media entree to Poilievre remains tightly controlled. At Conservative events, journalists are kept astatine a distance, often down barriers. Unlike with different enactment leaders, the media is constricted to inquire Poilievre 4 questions with nary follow-ups, and enactment officials determine which reporters inquire questions. 

And staffers person tried to artifact entree to journalists trying to talk to supporters and adjacent section candidates.

While the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Québécois each person reporters travelling with their campaigns, astatine their employers' expense, the Conservatives decided against it.

Julie Simmons, an subordinate prof of governmental subject astatine the University of Guelph, said Poilievre sees the mainstream media outlets as having a bias against him.

"And truthful arsenic a result, helium is acrophobic oregon funny successful reasoning astir alternate ways to scope voters," she said. "And this is evident successful his extended postulation of YouTube videos."

WATCH: Poilievre calls writer 'a protester': 

Don Guy, a veteran Liberal political run strategist, former run manager and main of unit to erstwhile Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, echoed that the Conservatives likely see "earned media" (non-paid media such as news coverage) as the the slightest of their priorities. 

Party spent millions connected societal media

Instead, the enactment has spent millions of dollars successful gathering their ain societal media beingness to provide unfiltered entree to the assemblage they privation to reach, helium said.

"So they're not giving a batch of clip for questions … due to the fact that it doesn't correspond thing additive for them successful presumption of amplifying their connection oregon reaching caller voters," Guy said.

"You could reason that it really represents much hazard than reward for them due to the fact that the person whitethorn stumble successful answering a question. And wherefore nary follow-up? Because if [he does] marque a misstep successful answering a question, past there's nary accidental for that newsman to inquire a supplementary oregon follow- up question poking astatine that."

But Guy said that strategy of limiting media entree does travel with risks, peculiarly successful this run with 2 rookie leaders, arsenic opposed to 1 well-known premier minister.

In this election, Canadians are looking for much accusation astir the candidates, helium said.

"I deliberation the hazard for the Conservatives, and it would look to beryllium showing up successful the polls, is that they are throttling that pipeline of that benignant of information," helium said.

Coletto said this constricted media entree strategy whitethorn besides beryllium hurting Conservatives with baby boomers, a cardinal demographic.

"Baby boomers are the astir apt to beryllium tuning successful to broadcast news, speechmaking newspapers, listening to the radio," helium said. "If [Poilievre's] not engaging with the media and trying to talk to that audience, he's going to have a hard clip convincing them that he's their champion prime successful this election."

Not a bully strategy: Journalism schoolhouse director

Allan Thompson, director of Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication, and a erstwhile Parliament Hill newsman for the Toronto Star, said Poilievre can grip himself rather good successful beforehand of journalists. 

"I don't think this is simply a bully strategy for him," said Thompson, who was besides an unsuccessful candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada during the 2015 and 2019 national elections.

"He's speedy connected his feet. He's a bully communicator," helium said. "I deliberation they person made a strategical mistake, going to the nth grade of media power and trying to bounds the message, which is wherefore it's important for journalists to papers this."

He said Poilievre has contrived a benignant of media dynamic with truthful galore controls that it's go portion of the communicative of the campaign.

"Everyone wants to negociate their connection and tries to rotation and transportation and debar the topics that they don't privation to address," Thompson said.

"We are a functioning democracy. And there's limits, I think, to however overmuch a idiosyncratic who aspires to beryllium a premier curate should curtail media."