Media not allowed at Harper book-tour luncheon
Tickets for March 12 event in Kelowna almost all gone
Media have been banned from Stephen Harper’s March 12 luncheon address in Kelowna.
“We were told from the beginning media likely won’t be allowed,” said Caroline Miller of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, which is presenting the event at the Delta Grand hotel.
“We asked several times for that to be reconsidered, but it definitely looks now like it will be a private book-tour event that is closed to the media.”
When Harper’s appearance in Kelowna to promote his new book Right Here, Right Now was first announced in January, there was no word about media being shut out.
The ban became public this week and the media naturally wanted to know why.
“It was Harper’s Harper & Associates consulting firm in Calgary that decided the lunch and book-tour event would be private from noon to 2 p.m.,” said Miller.
The media also wants to know if alternative arrangements can be made to speak with the former Conservative prime minister.
“You would think the publisher (Penguin Random House Canada) would want as much promotion for the book as possible,” said Miller.
“So, media requests are being taken for possible interviews before or after the luncheon.”
The requests are being taken by Harper’s chief of staff at his Calgary consulting firm, not the publisher in Toronto.
While promotion and media coverage is a routine part of book tours, Harper is now a private citizen and can call the shots on media access.
As part of the $100 ticket for the Kelowna luncheon, everyone who attends the event will receive a copy of the book and even get a selfie with the author and former prime minister.
Private is a relative term in this case.
While media can’t cover the lunch and Harper’s talk about leadership and the rise of populist politics, anyone else who buys a $100 ticket will be allowed in.
Initially, the chamber booked the ballroom at the Coast Capri Hotel, expecting to sell 320 seats for the lunch.
Those tickets sold quickly, so the chamber switched venues to the Delta Grand hotel, which has a bigger ballroom and room for 650.
Almost all tickets are sold. The last few seats can be purchased at KelownaChamber.org.