Blogger Gets Bounced From Parliament
Stephen Taylor, one of my blogger pals from our northern neighbor, has covered the Canadian parliament for quite a while, and has built a well-deserved reputation for professionalism in Canada. He requested and received access to several secure areas of Parliament Hill in order to interview various MPs from the Speaker of the House. While exercising that access by speaking with and taking photographs of his subjects, members of the Canadian press decided that they had had enough of an upstart blogger -- and had him removed, passes and all:
I left the hallway outside of the foyer and walked over to the railway room to interview some 'stakeholders' of the budget. This went off without incident and during that time, I cheerfully chatted with some reporters that were in the same room.Having completed my interviews with the stakeholders, I left and headed on over to the Rotunda where I had a friendly chat with Jack Layton. Elizabeth May and her assistant were also hanging around chatting when I saw Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc walk by. Having heard that his party was the lone opposition party supporting the budget, I asked him for an interview. He agreed. After the interview something ugly happened.
An official from the Press Gallery walked over and informed me that he had received "complaints" about me. "Thompson?" I inquired. "Complaints", he seemed to acknowledge. I pointed out that we were currently in the Rotunda of Parliament and that my pass allowed me to be there. "But you have a camera" he informed me. He called over a security guard to escort me from Parliament. ...
Yes, the Parliamentary Press Gallery, with no powers granted to it by constitution or statute, used security to remove somebody who had the right to be present on the Hill granted to him by the Speaker of the House.
I'm not familiar with the rules for press access to Parliament in Ottawa, but I'm certain that the Speaker must be. If his office granted Stephen a pass to the areas in which he operated, it seems more than a little strange that the press liaison would have him ejected, especially for bringing a camera. Has the Parliamentary Press Gallery never heard of photography? Do they draw pictures for their newspapers instead of printing pictures?
I have had the pleasure of traveling twice to Canada and meeting the bloggers of the North. They told me at the time that the Canadian blogosphere was not as well established as the American blogosphere, but it wasn't from lack of talent. I wonder if the Canadian press has started to fear the rise of Canada's bloggers and have decided to use petty tricks to kneecap these independent journalists and pundits. If this is an indication of the professionalism of the PPG -- and I hope it isn't -- then they should fear the bloggers.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on April 2, 2007 7:47 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (2)
Comments (5)
Posted by RightGirl![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 2, 2007 8:06 PM
One can hardly blame the parliamentary press, when you consider their terrible relationship with the PM, and the PM's and Mrs. Harper's love of blogs. Sour grapes, that's all it was.
Too bad for poor Stephen, though. He's very talented.
RG
Posted by SkyWatch![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 2, 2007 8:20 PM
sounds like sencorship to me. Our northern neighbors our just a taste of what is coming.
Posted by unclesmrgol![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 2, 2007 11:01 PM
And, if you read his blog, the Liberals are using our DMCA laws to prevent free speech!
Posted by rbj![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 3, 2007 12:43 PM
Fear and jealousy by dinosaurs over the more nimble and more evolved mammals. The press believes that Journalism is a religion and they are the priests -- no one else is allowed to do their job.
Posted by breakfastmeat![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/nav-commenters.gif)
| April 3, 2007 2:06 PM
while on the topic of Canada, another person has been charged with fraud involving the sponsorship scandal. the authorities can't find him though, and the neighbours in his apartment building haven't seen him since he moved into his apartment 2 years ago. apparently he might be living the good life in costa rica with his son.
here is a link to the entire story on the c.b.c.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/04/02/lafleur-charges.html