Cheering section
ONT. PREMIER UNDER FIRE FOR MEDIA ANTICS, PAID APPLAUSE
Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has come under fire for the combative tone it’s struck with journalists covering the Ontario legislature. Rival politicians, members of the media and industry watchers alike all say the obstructive tactics on display from Ford and his cabinet ministers go far beyond the partisan messaging expected in most political environments.
Drowning out reporters’ questions with paid applause and producing government propaganda in the guise of an independent news story, they say, represents a misuse of taxpayer dollars and poses a threat to democracy.
The government has said it uses funds from the caucus budget to fund social media accounts operating under the name Ontario News Now, which have delivered two videos so far promoting party messages.
Tories have also not denied that political staffers and others on the government payroll have been brought into official news conferences to offer seemingly spontaneous applause, which have been used to prevent reporters from asking followup questions.
Tory ministers have shrugged off the critiques and even doubled down on efforts to cast aspersions on the media, all of which is sounding increasingly loud alarm bells for some pundits.
“All of these are moves to obstruct democratic accountability, which undermines good government,” said Duff Conacher, cofounder of Democracy Watch and a University of Ottawa professor of law and politics. “It does nothing to clean up politics as the Conservatives have promised to do. In fact it makes dishonest, unethical, secretive and wasteful activities more likely to happen.”
Conacher said there’s a distinction between controlling a political message and deliberately using taxpayer money to produce items that look like news stories but have not been subjected to any standards of independent journalism.
The first such video features one of Ford’s senior communications advisers reading a television-style script touting the premier’s schedule during his first 30 days in office before segueing to a clip of Ford enumerating his accomplishments to date.
“Premier Ford attended dozens of events in 30 days, and he managed to keep a few campaign promises, too,” Lyndsey Vanstone reads shortly before providing an official signoff in the style of a television news report.
Health Minister Christine Elliott confirmed that Ontario News Now is paid for through the Conservative caucus budget, which is in turn funded by tax revenue.
Governments are barred from distributing propaganda, according to the Ontario Advertising Act, but Conacher said people can technically argue that the caucus does not operate as a government office and can therefore be exempt.
He disagreed with that interpretation and called upon the province’s auditor general to look into the matter.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath described Ontario News Now as inappropriate and disrespectful.
“You’re not allowed to use public dollars for partisan purposes,” Horwath said, defending past NDP-produced videos as neutral because they recognize religious observances or touch on similarly non-partisan topics. “So putting together this partisan machine of propaganda that the Conservatives have done ... it’s against the rules.”
A representative from the Tory caucus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The rounds of applause that have marked the end of recent news conferences, including one where Ford announced controversial changes to a handful of municipal governments in the middle of an election campaign, have angered many reporters.
Some of them expressed their frustration when staffers applauded community Safety Minister Lisa MacLeod’s announcement that the government would be scrapping a basic income pilot program and walking back planned increases to social assistance rates, drowning out followup questions from journalists and heralding the abrupt end to the news conference.