Poilievre’s media hatred is well-known, but his disdain for fellow MPs has recently come into greater public focus. 

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 30, 2024.

Stephen Colbert belled the cat. Before Canadians get too triumphant about how we would never vote for Donald Trump, the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert underscored the obvious.

Pierre Poilievre is Canada’s Donald Trump.

As Canadians get closer to an election, Conservative pundits are explaining that Poilievre’s caustic campaign attitude would soften were he to become prime minister.

American pundits said the same thing when Trump was headed to the White House.

After the cliffhanger surprise victory in the November 2016 election, it was suggested that his toxic behaviour would change once he became the president.

But what we observed was the exact opposite. By empowering a bully, American Trump supporters managed to feed the ego of an even bigger bully.

Poilievre is certainly Trump-like in his attacks on everyone who opposes him, and even some of those who don’t.

The Conservative leader issued a prohibition last week against talking to any reporter with CTV news after it was revealed that his comment on dental care was edited.

But his fatwa did not stop there. He also insisted that all Conservative MPs refrain from holding any meetings with executives, lobbyists, or any other representative of Bell Media, even though CTV “unreservedly” apologized for the alleged misrepresentation.

CTV News issued a second statement on Sept. 26, saying two CTV News staff members were responsible for “altering a video clip, manipulating it for a particular story,” and are no longer members of the CTV News team. CTV News “sincerely and unreservedly” apologized, and said its duty is “to provide accurate, fair, and balanced coverage of the issues that matter to Canadians.”

Poilievre attacked the head of CTV’s parent company—and previous Conservative party donor—BCE president Mirko Bibic blaming him for a recent downgrading in the company’s valuation by Moody’s.

Poilievre also claimed that Bibic was pulling the editorial strings in the newsroom to make the Conservatives look bad, and prop up the government.

Forget about Bell’s leadership. What about the almost 45,000 people who work for the company that is struggling along with other conglomerates because of the changing media landscape?

Bibic has actually donated to the Conservative Party in the past. He even supported Jean Charest’s leadership bid, which perhaps accelerated Poilievre’s angry tone last week.

Poilievre has already trashed the CBC, claiming that as prime minister he would end its funding. He has also consistently attacked The Canadian Press for allegedly writing stories that are carried verbatim by dozens of news outlets across the country (which is their mandate).

Poilievre’s media hatred is well-known, but his disdain for fellow MPs has recently come into greater public focus.

After NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ripped up the supply-and-confidence agreement with the government earlier this month, but then refused to join in Poilievre’s non-confidence motion last week, the Conservative leader called his NDP opponent “a fake, a phoney, a fraud, and a liar.”

The move follows the same example as Trump who loves burning his bridges with aggressive and over-the-top rhetoric.

This is strange behaviour for someone whose prime ministerial future could depend on his capacity to work with other parties.

If he is elected by a minority of voters, Poilievre would have to make common cause with other leaders in order to survive.

And having a workable relationship with Singh should be on his agenda, not increasing the temperature to the point where Singh was implying to “bro” that he step across the aisle and fix their differences with their fists.

Trump has amply proven that you can’t take the bully out of the man. Even when he was in a position of authority, as the president of the United States, Trump acted as though he still had to double down permanently on all his enemies, including—and especially—those who had formerly been his friends.

As for Poilievre, he has pretty much smoked everyone in the so-called “heritage media.”

But he won’t get his message out by simple social posts or Rebel regurgitations.

Last week, Rebel was denied the right to receive media support because, according to a recent Federal Court judgment, it doesn’t create enough original news.

According to Revenue Canada, less than one per cent of Rebel’s content is original, so it cannot claim the financial payment offered by the Liberal government to existing media outlets.

That decision will no doubt enhance Poilievre’s attacks on everyone in the media, but it is a stretch to assume that the president of CTV’s parent company would have any say on what goes on in the national news room.

The legal beagles at Bell are probably reviewing their slander options today. If Poilievre were as fulsome outside the House as he was inside, he will probably be served with a notice to apologize for his comments.

But, like any bully, that may only make him angrier.

As Colbert said: Poilievre is Canada’s Trump.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Rosemary Speirs passed away last week just as Lisa LaFlamme was being unceremoniously dumped as CTV’s award-winning anchor. Both were luminaries in the field of journalism.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 22, 2022.

Rosemary Speirs passed away last week just as Lisa LaFlamme was being unceremoniously dumped as CTV’s award-winning anchor.

Both were luminaries in the field of journalism.

Rosemary’s forte was the written word. She was a print journalist for more than three decades, and spent the majority of her career at the Toronto Star covering politics.

Lisa was the modern face of television, an accomplished journalist whose on-camera anchor demeanour exuded confidence and experience.

LaFlamme beat all the rest when it came to national awards for journalism.

Speirs was a stellar reporter, following the old adage of “Just the facts, ma’am.” She was a real example of what a journalist should be. No animus, no hidden personal agenda, just an attempt to get to the story behind the story.

As a politician, I always appreciated an interview by Speirs or Laflamme. They never doubled-down on politicians, never considered us the enemy. They would push us for information without ever being motivated by any personal animosity.

The current crop of male journalists carries their disdain for the political class as a badge of honour. Many are proud of the fact that they have zero belief in political integrity.

They make it known that most politicians are without talent, because truly talented change-makers would not deign to pursue a career in politics.

In Speirs’ case, she saw politics as a craft and as a place where one could effect real change.

Almost a quarter century separates LaFlamme and Speirs, but both focussed on bringing their unique talents into a man’s world.

In Rosemary’s case, one huge change she sought was more women in the political system.

To that end, she was a co-founder of Equal Voice, a national non-partisan organization focussed on encouraging more women to run in politics.

Because of her work, the organization has been actively recruiting women to add their voices to municipal, provincial, and federal politics for the past two decades.

Rosemary Speirs’ life’s work was improving equality in politics.

Perhaps we need that same drive applied to equality in media.

The firing of LaFlamme hit many hard on two fronts. Management’s explanation for the decision—that firing their award-winning, top-rated anchor was sound business—had the stench of sexism and ageism.

LaFlamme is only 58 years of age, yet somehow the brass at CTV believed she was not appealing to new—also known as younger—audiences.

As for gender bias, Peter Mansbridge and Lloyd Robertson, both respected national news anchors, remained in their posts until well past the national retirement age of 65.

Robertson left his his position as CTV news anchor in his 77th year. As for Mansbridge, he enjoyed a year-long pre-retirement celebration, stepping down on Canada’s 150th birthday at the age of 69.

Compare those departures to the sacking of LaFlamme at age 58.

When it comes to the treatment of women, politicians are doing a lot better than journalists.

Look what happened to Wendy Mesley when she allegedly brought up the N-word in a private news meeting to discuss coverage of a book.

She was secretly shoved aside, without a proper explanation of the fact that she was simply referring to the language in the book.

Before LaFlamme, the last great female anchor was Barbara Frum. The atrium in the new CBC building was named after her. She died while still on the job at the age of 54.

That was 30 years ago. But the recent treatment received by LaFlamme is proof positive that in all that time, the status of women in the media has not changed much.

Even the dress code for women is sexist. CTV executive Michael Melling, who dumped LaFlamme with two years left in her contract, also opposed her COVID-era decision to go grey, a decision cheered by women across the country.

LaFlamme kept her professionalism intact. She always looked fabulous, while bringing her measured journalistic skills to the job.

She embodied the likeability factor. People enjoyed watching her anchor the news. She would often find something positive to say at the end of a broadcast, in contrast to the usual negative nature of much news coverage.

Twitter labelled the person who fired her as the most hated man in Canada.

With ageism and sexism rearing their ugly heads, LaFlamme’s firing proves we need a Media Equal Voice.

Rosemary would approve!

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.