The Independent Press Gallery of Canada said it believes Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley should commit to allowing independent media outlets to cover all future Alberta NDP press conferences..A letter sent to Notley Tuesday outlined her mistreatment of independent journalists and asked for the NDP to commit to maintaining press access for independent media.."On Monday, April 17, security contractors hired by the Alberta NDP removed two journalists from your press conference: Keean Bexte from The Counter Signal and Alex Dhaliwal from Rebel News," President of Independent Press Gallery of Canada Andrew Lawton wrote in the letter.."At the same conference, you dismissed Western Standard columnist Nigel Hannaford and doubled down on a blanket ban of the Standard from asking you any questions at all.".READ MORE: Notley NDP ban WS from receiving media releases.Lawton told Notley in the letter that she confirmed her party has cut off the outlet from receiving NDP media advisories.."Fostering a system where politicians can cherry-pick journalists’ questions while blacklisting random outlets is an affront to the basic tenets of democracy, and runs contrary to the expectations that Albertans have for a free press," Lawton said.."You have stated on social media that Albertans deserve a leader that takes their questions, and you proudly declared you would take media questions and follow-ups. But your behaviour indicates the opposite.".READ MORE: Alberta Legislature Press Gallery sends letter to Smith to question 'restrictions' on reporters.On April 14, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she will be limiting journalists at press conferences to one question each in order to accommodate a greater variety of questions.."This prompted you to portray Premier Smith as a censor and yourself as a defender of press freedom. You claim to support the values of openness and transparency, but the hypocrisy here is too great to ignore," Lawton said to Notley.."In fact, you wrote on Twitter on April 16 that 'Leaders with nothing to hide actually answer questions from the media.' Does this mean you have something to hide?".Lawton said 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.."Independent journalists are able to ask questions of politicians that truly hold power to account and inform the Canadian public. You have led Albertans to believe that this is something you value," Lawton said..READ MORE: WATCH: UCP video mocking Notley for not answering WS questions goes viral."Ms. Notley, will you commit to allowing independent media outlets to cover all future Alberta NDP press conferences?".Lawton then asked Notley if she will commit to maintaining press access for independent media if her party wins the general election.."We request your response by Thursday, April 20 at 11 a.m. MT," Lawton said..Notley claimed Monday the Western Standard (WS) is engaging in "very active homophobic, discriminatory, hateful editorial positioning" as it relates to some of her NDP caucus members..READ MORE: WATCH: Notley says WS is 'homophobic,' 'hateful'."Your publication recently has been engaging in very active homophobic, discriminatory, hateful editorial positioning as it relates to some of our caucus members," Notley told the Western Standard when being questioned why the publication was removed from her media list.."And until such time as that is retracted and apology offered. We will not be answering questions. I am happy to reconsider that issue should a retraction and apology be offered. But between now and then I simply cannot engage in any sort of normalization, that kind of conversation. It is a breach of our Human Rights Code. It's a breach of our charter. It's a breach of basic standards. And so I look forward to hearing from your editors in the future.".On Monday, Notley said: "I want to make it very clear that I'm happy to take any questions from the media and any follow-up questions.".However, she dodged the Western Standard's follow-up question of why the Alberta NDP banned the Western Standard from the media list, while other NDP parties in Canada answer its questions and send media advisories.."I'm happy to take other questions from folks," Notley said while avoiding the Western Standard question.
