Pierre Poilievre swept the leadership vote at the federal Conservative party's convention this past weekend in Calgary. While news outlets breathlessly explored the vote and what it means for the party, one journalist who applied for media accreditation was denied. The reason? "I don't know." Meanwhile, at that same convention, a new category of accreditation was made to designate "content creators." Many of these included open Poilievre and Conservative partisans. Arno Kopecky, national politics reporter for Canada's National Observer joins Scott to discuss the change, wider denial of access to journalists and what he learned reporting from the convention lobby.

Clarification: Shortly before this was recorded, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives had changed their policy and allowed reporters to cover Ford's speech. No details were given on allowing journalists to cover any other part of the convention.

Canada's National Observer

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Sources and further reading at:

https://readthecatch.ca/barred-from-the-conservative-convention-ft-arno-kopecky

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

Outro Music:"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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