EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Premier Doug Ford was caught on a hot mic Thursday thanking God that there were no journalists around to ask him questions.
That’s because they weren’t invited.
His comments came after a lineup of provincial, federal and municipal officials gathered behind a podium in Mississauga, where they delivered prepared remarks about a major funding decision.
The speakers each took a turn at the podium to talk about $401.4 million in infrastructure funding tied to the city’s decision to reduce development charges.
With no press in attendance, there were no questions asked at the taxpayer-funded event.
“Thank God we don’t have the media,” Ford said on the mic at the conclusion of the announcement. “No questions, no answers. We’re good to go.”
The Trillium asked a spokesperson for Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish’s office who organized Thursday’s announcement and decided not to invite reporters.
“Province in total control,” the spokesperson said.
The premier’s office defended the move, saying governments communicate in different ways.
“Like every government, we communicate different project milestones to the public and to partners in different ways, this includes through formal announcements, photo ops and through social media,” a spokesperson said.
Federal government spokespeople did not respond before publication to questions about who decided media wouldn’t be invited to the event.
It is part of a larger pattern by the Ford government that The Trillium reported on in early August.
On at least five dates between mid-May and Aug. 5, Ford or other provincial cabinet ministers posted photos on social media that showed them with government-branded podiums. Each corresponded with provincial announcements, and the government shared details about the events with the media after the fact. The premier or cabinet ministers read prepared remarks at at least two of those events, The Trillium confirmed.
At the time, the premier’s office would not say why reporters were not notified, nor what criteria were used to determine whether a media advisory was necessary.
While photos from those events were posted online, the premier’s office did not post videos of them.
Inessa De Angelis, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, said political events like these “borrow legitimacy from a mainstream traditional media event.”
De Angelis studies how technology is changing political communication and the relationship between political actors, journalists and the public.
She told The Trillium that politicians use visuals associated with a news conference — the podium, backdrop images, and people standing behind the main speaker — to give “credibility” to their narrative.
“If a citizen were to encounter this on social media without the kind of background context that we have here, having seen the lack of media invites and things like that, they would have assumed that this is a regular media event, and that’s obviously going to have implications for the political information that they’re encountering afterwards,” she said, adding that politicians using this communication strategy are “blurring the lines” and “borrowing some of the role that the journalists were playing before.”
“They’re also kind of becoming media producers in their own right.”
De Angelis added that these “strategic communication events” are reconfiguring the relationship journalists have with politicians, as well as the media system.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles described the events as “cosplay.”
“He shows up at a press conference, stands behind a podium, makes it look like he’s at a press conference, and then actually there is nobody from the media or the public there to hold him to account and ask questions,” she said.
“I think though it’s not surprising to me that the premier continues with his disdain for democracy, because I think that’s what this is, disdain for democracy.”
Stiles also described Ford’s “thank God we don’t have the media” comments after Thursday’s news conference as “Trumpian.”
Meanwhile, interim Liberal leader John Fraser said a “serious government and a serious premier wouldn’t pull this kind of nonsense.”
“They’d be able to answer questions and defend their record. Apparently, they can’t do either,” Fraser said.
Ford has held at least a couple of other news conference-like events recently without inviting journalists. On Aug. 28, he announced the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury would receive up to $94.8 million from the provincial and federal governments for reducing development charges. Another was on Monday, when the premier visited the Marten Falls First Nation to celebrate breaking ground on an access road to the Ring of Fire. The premier’s office posted videos of both announcements afterward.
At the end of the Bradford West Gwillimbury event, the premier appeared to express glee after the camera had gone black, but the mic was still on. Referring to the media — or lack of it — he could be heard saying, “That makes my day.”