Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre put legacy media journalists in their place after they attempted to corner him by asking him questions based on a false premise. Speaking to reporters outside the House of Commons Monday, a reporter asked the opposition leader if his party regretted granting more than $100 million in regulatory relief to the mainstream media.“We don’t want to give any tax dollars to the mainstream media,” Poilievre corrected her. “Our belief is the mainstream media and all”....he was interrupted by the journalist asking the same question again. “The media that is bought and paid for, which outlet are you with by the way?” He asks this four times before getting a response from the journalist. “Canadian Press,” she said. “Ah, okay Canadian Press,” Poilievre said, laughing. “You’re talking about tax dollars for media, isn’t CBC your biggest”....he was cut off again by the reporter again asking the same question.“When would you like me to respond?” Silence. “Okay, good. Okay, great,” he said. “So of course, you are a tax-funded media outlet and spreading (Liberal Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau's message.” .The reporter again tried to ask the same question. “You’re interrupting me again,” said Poilievre. “I am answering the question. Your question is false, so if you can allow me to correct your falsehoods, we can answer the question directly.”“So, false: Conservatives do not believe in giving tax dollars to media outlets,” he said. “That’s Justin Trudeau. You’re a tax-funded mouthpiece to the PMO (Prime Minister's Office), that’s the reality.”The reporter kept trying to interrupt, demanding that he answer the question. “I’m trying to, but you’re heckling. Are you going to let me answer the question, or are you just going to heckle on behalf of Justin Trudeau? Which is it?”The reporter said she would “love the answer.” “Great. So our party does not support tax dollars for media outlets, because that’s when we end up with biased media like you, who come here and articulate the PMO talking points, rather than delivering real news to the Canadian people.” “Justin Trudeau gave Bell Media and other media, tax dollars, supposedly to protect media jobs. And then what happened? They all got laid off,” he said. “So the supposed justification for giving all this money was that it was going to save media jobs. While they all got fired! So I guess that wasn’t the real reason to give tax dollars to the media. The real reason was for him to buy support from the media, which is what he actually did.”“We believe that media should be driven by viewership, readership, and listenership, and that’s what allows it to represent the Canadian people, rather than taking marching orders from the PMO.”
