Premier Doug Ford announced $401.4 million in infrastructure funding for Mississauga on Thursday at an event staged like a news conference — except no journalists were invited.
The provincial, federal and municipal officials lined up behind the podium delivered prepared remarks about the money, which is tied to the city's decision to reduce development charges. When the speeches ended, there were no questions, The Trillium reported.
Thank God we don't have the media. No questions, no answers. We're good to go.
Ford said those words on the microphone at the conclusion of the taxpayer-funded announcement, apparently unaware it was still live.
Who kept reporters out?
The Trillium asked a spokesperson for Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish's office who organized the announcement and decided against inviting reporters.
Province in total control.
That was the spokesperson's full response.
The premier's office defended the format, telling The Trillium that governments share project milestones with the public and partners in different ways, "this includes through formal announcements, photo ops and through social media."
Federal government spokespeople did not respond before publication to questions about who decided the media would not be invited.
Part of a pattern
The Mississauga event fits a broader pattern The Trillium first reported on in early August. On at least five dates between mid-May and Aug. 5, Ford or other cabinet ministers posted photos on social media showing them with government-branded podiums. Each photo corresponded with a provincial announcement, but details were shared with media only after the fact.
At the time, the premier's office would not say why reporters were not notified or what criteria determine whether a media advisory is sent out.
Ford has held at least two other news-conference-like events recently without journalists present. 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. On Monday, he visited Marten Falls First Nation to mark the start of construction on an access road to the Ring of Fire. The premier's office posted videos of both events afterward.
At the end of the Bradford West Gwillimbury event, with the camera off but the microphone still on, Ford could be heard referring to the absent media and saying, "That makes my day."
Critics weigh in
Inessa De Angelis, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information who studies how technology is changing political communication, told The Trillium that such events "borrow legitimacy from a mainstream traditional media event" by using podiums, backdrops and rows of officials behind the speaker.
"They're also kind of becoming media producers in their own right," she said, adding that the strategy is "blurring the lines" between politicians and the journalists who once questioned them.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles described the events as "cosplay," telling The Trillium that Ford "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 called the premier's approach "disdain for democracy" and described his hot-mic comment as "Trumpian."
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."
