Reporters were told not to ask questions of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he visited Kelowna earlier this week but they didn’t face eviction from the events if they did so, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office say.
Press conferences were not scheduled when Trudeau visited a child care center, the BC Tree Fruits plant, and locations in Summerland. However, photographers and videographers were allowed to film Trudeau’s interaction with various people.
Requests that reporters not ask questions of Trudeau at some appearances are not that unusual, said Cameron Ahmad, the prime minister’s director of communications.
“Of course there are events that we do like the one that day where we don’t plan media availabilities,” Ahmad said Wednesday. “There are some events where it’s just meeting with people, or a tour of a location, and conversations with people, and no questions from the media are planned.”
Reporters sometimes abide by the directive not to ask questions, and sometimes they don’t, Ahmad said.
“That’s absolutely normal and we are used to that,” he said. ‘Sometimes, (Trudeau) answers and sometimes he doesn’t have time, but no one is ever told the police are going to kick you out if you ask a question and we told you there are no questions here.’
“That’s not how we operate and not something that we ever direct our team to say,” he said. “That is not how we conduct our events.”
In an emailed statement, the Prime Minister’s Office added: “Journalists must always be treated with the utmost respect and be able to do their jobs. Under no circumstances should journalists ever be threatened when covering a government or political event. Our office never instructed anyone to do this, and this is not how we operate.”
