(Ottawa) Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will not be at the traditional Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner on Saturday night, an event canceled for two years due to COVID-19.
Posted at 1:06 p.m.
It is the tradition for the leaders of federal political parties from all walks of life to attend this event. They deliver a speech often marked by self-mockery, but also punctuated with stings against their opponents and journalists.
A spokesperson for Mr. Poilievre did not explain the Conservative leader’s decision not to attend the gala, which will take place Saturday at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.
His former boss and last Conservative Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, also shunned the event when he was in power, but he already participated when he was leader of the official opposition.
Rona Ambrose, who was interim leader of the Conservative Party after the departure of Mr. Harper, had returned to tradition. Andrew Scheer, who led the party from 2017 to 2019, also appeared at the Parliamentary Press Gallery galas.
Erin O’Toole, elected chef in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, did not have the time to juggle the invitation card: the gala was canceled two years in a row due to health measures related to COVID-19 .
Mr. Poilievre’s decision is hardly surprising, given his vocal opposition to “mainstream mainstream media” and his choice to carefully avoid journalists in Parliament since being elected Conservative leader.
Since September 10, Mr Poilievre has held only one press conference, during which he had a heated exchange with a reporter, when his entourage announced that the new Tory leader would only make a statement and that he wouldn’t answer any questions. He finally took two.