Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley didn't respond to a letter from the Independent Press Gallery of Canada about allowing independent media outlets to cover all future Alberta NDP press conferences.."I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that Rachel Notley refuses to commit to allowing all journalists to report on her campaign," President of Independent Press Gallery of Canada Andrew Lawton told the Western Standard..READ MORE: Independent Press Gallery of Canada condemns Notley's treatment of journalists."She has chosen to exclude the journalists whose questions she least wants to answer, and this is quite hypocritical given her criticisms of Danielle Smith.".The Independent Press Gallery of Canada said it believes Notley should commit to allowing independent media outlets to cover all future Alberta NDP press conferences..A letter sent to Notley on 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..The deadline for a response by Thursday, April 20 at 11 a.m. MT was given to the Alberta NDP.."Politicians like Notley talk a big game when they speak about press freedom in the abstract, but are terrified of the implications of it if it means facing challenging questions from independent media," Lawton said..The Western Standard is a member of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada and also a member of the Alberta Press Gallery..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 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.
