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Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Canadian activists demand action from Liberals on Iran

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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An Oct. 21 letter by the Council of Iranian Canadians co-signed by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress demands that the Liberal government takes further action to condemn the nation’s Islamist regime following the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. 

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, the council called on Ottawa to immediately list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity and seize assets of sanctioned Iranians. 

“The Iranian regime is a danger to global security – providing training, arms, and personnel to several of non–state terrorist entities as well as to other authoritarian state supporters of terrorism, such as Syria and Russia,” writes the council. 

“(Canada must” immediately) list the IRGC – which is complicit in and responsible for violence against Iranians, Ukrainians, Jews, and others – as a terrorist entity, and sanction it accordingly.” 

The Council of Iranian Canadians is comprised of Canadians of Persian descent and has hosted several rallies in recent weeks to protest the Iranian regime.

Despite repeated calls from the Iranian community and Conservatives to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity, Trudeau has since refused to do so. 

Earlier this month, Trudeau announced a permanent travel ban on 10,000 officials from the group via special immigration measures. 

Critics have since stated that the move was not enough and that the IRGC should be fully designated as a terrorist entity alongside other groups like Al-Qaeda. 

“While our groups are encouraged by the Government of Canada’s latest targeted sanctions and travel ban on the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), our groups are renewing our call on our government to take a firm stance against the Islamic Republic and its ally, Russia,” the letter read. 

Other calls to action include opposing any diplomatic engagement with Iran on its nuclear program. The council also wants to see Canada list the Russian Federation as a terrorist entity for its invasion of Ukraine. 

“The Iranian people deserve the full support of Canada in their fight for a democratic and free Iran. And the Iranian regime deserves to be treated by the international community as pariahs,” wrote the council. 

In an Oct. 14 tweet, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre demanded that the Liberals stopped “dragging their feet” and commit to the listing of the IRGC.

“Conservatives stand with the people of Iran fighting for their freedom,” tweeted Poilievre. “Liberals must stop dragging their feet and list the entire IRGC as a terrorist organization now.”

Emergencies Act not required: OPP officer | Day 7 recap of Emergencies Act hearings

By
Harrison Faulkner
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Officers “did not need the Emergencies Act”, according to a prominent Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer, who testified Friday on day 7 of the hearings into the controversial use of the Act.

Chief Superintendent Carson Pardy, who was one of the most senior law enforcement officers involved in the effort during the Freedom Convoy, told Commission lawyers that the Emergencies Act invocation wasn’t required to tow vehicles and that existing police strategies in place prior to invoking the act would have been sufficient to clear the protests within the same time period.

Commission lawyer Frank Au asked Pardy, “In your view, was there a police solution to the demonstration?”

“There was a solution and we reached that solution,” Pardy said. “We had some help with the Emergencies Act but in my humble opinion we would have reached the same conclusion with the plan that we had without (the Act).”

“Did the police in Ottawa end up needing the Emergencies Act to tow vehicles?” Au asked Pardy.

“No,” Pardy responded. “We have various authorities to seize and/or remove or tow vehicles. So we did not need the Emergencies Act.”

Pardy went on to say that the Act “helped” police execute their plan and it allowed them to stop people from entering the “red zone”, but “we could’ve done that anyway,” Pardy said.

Counsel representing the Saskatchewan government also pressed Pardy on his signing off on an operational plan to clear the protesters from Ottawa without requiring the powers given to law enforcement in the Act.

“When you signed off on that plan you were confident that it could be implemented to end the occupation?” Saskatchewan counsel asked. “That February 13th plan did not contemplate any powers under the federal Emergencies Act, correct?”

Pardy confirmed that the operations plan – which was also signed off by the RCMP and the OPS – did not involve Emergencies Act powers and could be implemented without the invocation of the act. 

OPP Supt. Dan Abrams was cross examined earlier today by lawyers representing various groups given standing by the Commission before Pardy was called to testify.

Democracy Fund lawyer Alan Honner asked Abrams if the sharp increase of OPP officers deployed to Ottawa prior to and immediately after the invocation of the Act was caused by the Act or if it was going to happen regardless of whether Justin Trudeau took the last resort measures.

Abrams agreed with Honner that the officer deployment would’ve happened “in any event” and that the increase in officers on the ground from the OPP was “directly related to what we know was an operational plan with the public order team that needed extra support.”

Lawyers representing the Government of Canada aimed to extract testimony from Abrams that would indicate that the excessive force used by officers to crack down on the protesters in Ottawa didn’t result in “death or bodily injury” to any of the protesters.

Abrams disagreed with government lawyers, saying “there was bodily injury to participants coming from my side.” Abrams cited Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit’s subsequent investigation into the actions of the riot officers that day as evidence that bodily injury to protesters did occur. 
“You’re not aware of any death or serious bodily injuries though?” government lawyers asked Abrams.

“I’m not aware of any deaths. I have to say that I saw serious bodily injury because if you look at the mandate of the Special Investigations Unit of Ontario, they only become involved when there is serious bodily injury,” Abrams responded.

Honner asked Pardy if he also took issue with the media labeling protesters in Ottawa as “extremists”.

Pardy agreed and went into detail about the uniqueness of the typical Freedom Convoy protester.

“The profile of the protester for this event was none like I had ever seen in my 36 year career. We had everything from grandparents, I was shown a picture of two retired officers in the crowd that I had worked with, we saw children, we saw a lot of crestfallen police officers in the crowd, military, nurses.” Pardy said. “It wasn’t your normal group of people that we were dealing with.”

Convoy lawyers continued to press law enforcement officials on the lack of a plan and the breakdown of communication between different levels of law enforcement and different units on the ground prior to and after the invocation of the act.

Convoy lawyer Bath-Sheba Van Den Berg questioned Abrams on whether the invocation of the Act had any effect on solving the communication failures taking place among law enforcement units.

“Do you agree with me that after the invocation of the Emergencies Act that these integration problems and communication problems did not improve?” Van Den Berg asked Abrams.

“Within the police liaison teams (PLT) there were still issues,” Abrams said. 

Van Den Berg then asked Abrams if the communication problems between the OPP PLT teams and Ottawa Police Service (OPS) PLT teams would lead to decision-making problems from the perspective of law enforcement. Abrams agreed and said that the failures in communication had a negative impact on accessing critical information from convoy leadership.

Van den Berg at the end of cross examination of Abrams asked him about whether any officers involved in physical altercations with protesters submitted required “use-of-force reports” in order to document physical engagement with protesters.

“Were any use-of-force reports completed after the major operations after the invocation of the Emergencies Act?” Van Den Berg asked Abrams.

“I’m not aware” Abrams responded.

You can watch the entirety of convoy lawyer Van Den Berg’s cross examination of OPP Supt. Dan Abrams below.

What happens next?

Hearings resume on Monday, October 24 at 9:30 am ET.

Scheduled to testify next week is former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly and acting Ottawa police chief Steve Bell along with the Commissioner of the OPP Thomas Carrique and other high ranking law enforcement officials from both the OPS and the OPP.

True North will continue to bring you daily coverage of the ongoing Public Order Emergency Commission hearings. 

From grandparents to kids, convoy protesters unlike any other: OPP chief superintendent

By
Andrew Lawton
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The chief superintendent in charge of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) response to the Freedom Convoy said the profile of demonstrators was unlike any he’d ever seen at a protest.

Carson Pardy, who has since retired from the OPP, testified Friday before the Public Order Emergency Commission that characterizing the convoy as having an “extremist” element was a problematic claim.

“The profile of the protester for this event was none like I’ve ever seen in my 36-year career,” he said. “We had everything from grandparents – you know, my first day in this assignment I was shown a picture of two officers that had worked for me in the past, who retired, who were in the crowd – we saw children, we saw a lot of crestfallen police officers in the crowd, nurses. It wasn’t your normal group of people that you’re dealing with.”

This stood in stark contrast to protests Pardy said he handled in his career around events like G-20 and G-7 summits, where there were groups espousing extremist views.

Pardy’s testimony also took aim at “one-sided” media coverage that didn’t reflect the situation on the ground.

The former chief superintendent reiterated that the Emergencies Act was not required for the police operation that ultimately broke up the three-week-long Ottawa protest. 

Asked by counsel to the Commission whether the Emergencies Act was necessary, Pardy initially said it was a “loaded question.”

“I’m a police officer,” he said. “Parliament gives us legislation. We don’t make legislation. They provide it to us and we use it to the best of our abilities. They gave us a piece of legislation to use, we were thankful for it and we used it to the best of our abilities to incorporate it into our own plan.”

Pardy said police did use powers given to them by Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protections Act and the federal Emergencies Act, but only did so because they were available, not because they were needed.

“In my humble opinion, we would have reached the same solution with the plan that we had without either of those pieces of legislation,” Pardy said, adding it would have taken place on the same timeline as it did with the Emergencies Act in place.

Pardy’s testimony also reaffirmed a recurring theme throughout the week of constant clashes between governments and police services at all levels, in particular between the Ontario Provincial Police and Ottawa Police Service.

Next week, interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell is slated to testify, as well as former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly.

The Public Order Emergency Commission hearings are scheduled to run until November 25, with dozens more anticipated witnesses including Freedom Convoy organizers, federal government officials, and eight cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Fake News Friday | True North fact-checks Reuters fact-check

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Reuters tries to fact-check a video reposted by True North where a Pfizer executive admits that its Covid vaccine was not tested for its ability to prevent transmission before hitting the market.

The Public Order Emergency Commission is well underway and so far nothing has been brought forward proving the government needed to use the Emergencies Act… but that hasn’t stopped the legacy media from having the worst takes possible.

Lastly, Pierre Poilievre is in the news again… this time because he doesn’t want to attend a dinner party held by the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Yup, the same press gallery who never fail to spin his words or heckle him during pressers. It’s no wonder he doesn’t want to go.

Tune into Fake News Friday with Andrew Lawton and Harrison Faulkner on True North!

Premier Danielle Smith names cabinet, keeps Toews as finance minister

By
Rachel Parker
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Source: Rebecca Lees

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has unveiled her 24-member cabinet, which includes almost all of her former leadership rivals and two deputy premiers, Kaycee Madu and Nathan Neudorf. 

Former premier Jason Kenney’s finance minister Travis Toews, the runner-up in the leadership race which elected Smith, will keep his spot. 

Brian Jean, who placed third in the leadership race, will become the minister of jobs, economy and northern development.

Rebecca Schulz, who placed fourth in the contest, will move over from children’s service to the municipal affairs file, while fifth-place leadership contender Todd Loewen will become the forestry, parks and tourism minister.

Loewen was an independent MLA when he ran for the leadership, having been expelled from the caucus during Kenney’s tenure. Lowen was readmitted the day after Smith was elected.

Rajan Sawhney, who was second to fall off the leadership ballot, was given the trade, immigration and multiculturalism file.

Leela Aheer, who placed last in the race, was not given a ministerial role. Kenney, a vocal critic of Smith’s throughout the leadership race, was also not given a portfolio. 

Jason Nixon, Kenney’s house leader and, briefly, finance minister, will not be in cabinet. Nixon critiqued Smith’s proposed Alberta Sovereignty Act during the leadership race.

Madu has also been named skilled trades and professions minister, while Neudorf will also hold the infrastructure file. 

Pete Guthrie is the new energy minister, while Jason Luan becomes the minister of culture and Nate Glubish is the technology and innovation minister.

Tyler Shandro, Adriana LaGrange and Sonya Savage will keep their portfolios of justice, education, and energy respectively. 

Nate Horner will stay on as agriculture minister, Demetrios Nicolaides will hold the advanced education file, and Rick Wilson will keep the indigenous relations ministerial position.

Mike Ellis is the new minister of public safety; Matt Jones is the minister of affordability and utilities, and Devin Dreeshen has become the minister of transportation and economic corridors. 

Dale Nally has been given the ministerial role for Service Alberta and red tape reduction, while Jeremy Nixon becomes the seniors, community and social services minister. 

The new minister of children’s services is Mickey Amery, and Nicholas Milliken moved from infrastructure to mental health and addictions.

In a statement, Smith said there’s a lot of work to be done.

“Our team will work every day to gain your trust, make bold changes and continue to build the most innovative, entrepreneurial and welcoming province in the world. I want to thank our entire team for their tireless dedication to Albertans and we’re looking forward to the days ahead.”

Caucus leadership positions include whip Brad Rutherford, house leader Joseph Schow and deputy house leaders Madu, Amery, and David Hanson.

Company listed as $1.2 million subcontractor for ArriveCan denies working on app

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The head of a Canadian tech firm has expressed confusion after finding the federal government listed his company as having been paid $1.2 million contract to work on the ArriveCan app.

Craig McLellan, the CEO of ThinkOn Inc, said his company was never tapped for work on the controversial app and never received any of the said money, according to the Globe and Mail.

“It caught me by surprise. I think the amount of money they attributed to us was probably more than our total revenue generated within the federal government in the last fiscal year,” he told the paper.

ThinkOn was the sixth company on a list of outsourced contractors used to develop and maintain the app. 

Conservatives have demanded that the federal government cough up more information about the secretive program which saw a majority of the work outsourced to confidential companies. 

The House of Commons committee on government operations has launched an inquiry into how the federal government outsourced work on the app to the tune of $54 million.

According to McLellan his company doesn’t even work in the field of QR verification. 

“We’re not even remotely in that space,” explained McLellan.

“I really can’t imagine how we could have been attributed to it.”

McLellan has confirmed that while his government does provide cloud services to the government it was not for the CBSA.

Another company, Ernst & Young, was also erroneously added to the list of contractors. 

“EY was not involved with the ArriveCan app,” said EY spokesperson Victoria McQueen. 

Recent figures show that what began as an $80,000 application to develop, quickly ballooned to a bill of over $54 million for taxpayers. 

“As with any project, many elements had to come together to do this. The $54M we expect to have spent by March 31, 2023, was not just budgeted and spent on the creation and launch of the app itself, which costed $80K to launch in April 2020, but also on all the necessary work to operate, maintain and upgrade the app over the last two years,” Canadian Border Services Agency spokesperson Sandra Bourdreau told the Globe and Mail.

Commissioner Lucki cites Liberal legislation, PM in released RCMP audio recordings

By
Noah Jarvis
-

Newly released audio recordings in the commission investigating the Nova Scotia mass shooting of 2020 of a meeting between law enforcement officials reveals RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki discussing the need to release information for the sake of advancing Liberal government firearms legislation.

Lucki had previously denied and attempted to downplay the degree to which political interference motivated her at times fiery conversation with other officials.

On the call, Lucki says that an unspecified “Minister” (presumed to be then-public safety minister Bill Blair) requested the firearm details be released and that she would ensure that the RCMP would reveal that information in an April 28, 2020 press conference conducted by Superintendent. Darren Campbell.

“I felt completely disrespected by the fact that I was told that Darren was going to talk about the guns in his speaking note, and as soon as I got confirmation I advised the Minister’s office and then it wasn’t there,” said Lucki.

Lucki said she “was very frustrated, very disappointed and I was feeling quite disrespected by what happened today and probably some of the stuff that’s happened this week.”

Supt. Campbell did not mention the firearms in his initial statement to the media, but did later reveal some firearms information upon being asked in the question and answer period. However, Lucki did not find this acceptable.

“I was told that there was a certain line that was gonna be used, it eventually was used in a question, when asked for a question, but I was expecting it to be part of the narrative that went forward,” said Lucki.

The RCMP was withholding the firearm details from the public, the commission previously heard, so as to not jeopardize the investigation into the firearm’s origins.

“Darren is not comfortable noting the make and or models of the weapons seized,” said the RCMP’s former head of communications Lia Scanlan, on the audio file.

In response, Lucki brought up Liberal firearm legislation as a reason for the RCMP to release the firearm details.

“Does anybody realize what’s going on in the world of handguns and guns right now?” said Lucki. “They’re in the middle of trying to get a legislation going, the fact that that legislation is supposed to actually help police.”

Lucki also complained that the “the Minister” and Prime Minister requested a timeline and map of the events and that the Nova Scotia RCMP did not provide said information on time.

“I was promised a chronology on Thursday afternoon for the Minister and the Prime Minister and I didn’t get that either,” said Lucki. “I didn’t get a map, and I didn’t get a chronology either.”

Former Nova Scotia RCMP commanding officer Lee Bergerman pushed back against Lucki, saying that Lucki’s request couldn’t be met on time despite RCMP officers working around the clock.

“All I can say is we worked tirelessly, all of us, on providing a proper and accurate timeline…with the equipment we had, which is why we ended up with such an excellent product,” said Bergerman.

“I realize that there was, there was a request for it to be done Thursday, but with what we had and we were putting all the effort in, we couldn’t get it all done on Thursday, but had the product ready to go, an accurate product on Friday.”

During a testimony before the House of Commons public safety and national security committee thi past summer, Lucki denied interfering in the investigation for political reasons.

“Let me begin, and let me clear. I did not interfere in the investigation around this tragedy,” Lucki said at the time. “Specifically, I was not directed to publicly release information about weapons used by the perpetrator to help advance pending gun control legislation.” 

The audio recordings confirm the substance of previously disclosed handwritten notes taken by Supt. Campbell, which had formed the original allegations of interference on the part of Lucki. 

A year after the call, Scanlan said in a publicly released email that Lucki’s conduct on the call was “appalling, unprofessional and extremely belittling.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in the summer, denied that his government put “any undue influence or pressure” on the RCMP.

“I still very much have… confidence in Commissioner Lucki,” Trudeau said at the time. 

Court dismisses air travel vaccine mandate lawsuits as moot

By
Andrew Lawton
-

The Federal Court will not hear challenges against the federal government’s vaccine mandate for air travel after dismissing them as moot.

On Thursday, Associate Chief Justice Jocelyne Gagné granted the federal government’s application to dismiss the case, 10 days before it was scheduled to be argued before the Federal Court.

The court was going to hear challenges filed by several applicants, including former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford, People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, and private citizens who were unable to travel by rail or air when the federal vaccine mandate was in effect.

The Trudeau government imposed the mandate by order-in-council in October 2021. It suspended the mandate June 20, but made clear it could be reinstated if the Covid situation in Canada changed.

Canada’s attorney general filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that it was moot given the vaccine mandate was no longer in effect.

Lawyers representing those challenging the mandate argued that the government’s own messaging about the potentially temporary suspension made the issue relevant so they wouldn’t need to start from scratch in challenging a future mandate.

Justice Gagné has not yet issued reasons for her decision, but did grant the government’s motion.

Peckford, who’s being represented by lawyer Keith Wilson, says he will be appealing.

“The people lose – the state wins,” Peckford said in an email about the decision.

Justin Trudeau promised the air travel vaccine mandate during last year’s federal election, asserting that the right to be unvaccinated does not entail the right to travel while being unvaccinated.

“If you don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s your choice. But don’t think you can get on a plane or a train beside vaccinated people and put them at risk,” Trudeau said at a campaign rally in Calgary. “We need to be strong in the decisions we’re taking going forward. We need to put people first.”

Tow trucks were en route prior to invoking the Act | Day 6 recap of Emergencies Act hearings

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

Tow trucks were already on their way to assist in the clearing of downtown Ottawa prior to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, Acting Deputy Chief of Ottawa Police Service Patricia Ferguson revealed at Thursday’s Emergencies Act inquiry hearings.

Both Ferguson and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) superintendent Craig Abrams testified to a breakdown of trust between liaison teams and convoy organizers throughout the protest.

Ferguson said of the Act invocation that it “greased the wheels” for the police to move the protesters out and that it gave law enforcement more “confidence” to do their jobs but that Ottawa police had tow truck drivers already on their way.

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Rob Kittredge pressed Ferguson on the other aspects of the Act’s invocation which allow out of jurisdiction police officers to enforce the law without being sworn in. Ferguson answered that given how tow truck drivers were already on their way, the invocation of the act really only saved hours of bureaucratic work by side stepping the requirement to have officers sworn in. 

Asked by Commission counsel if there was any coordination between enforcement teams and police liaison teams (PLT) on the ground during the protest, Ferguson said that police negotiators were “caught entirely off guard” when enforcement and arrests began taking place. 

Ferguson described the negotiations between police and convoy leadership as a “win-lose scenario” and that the truckers were given a directive that if they left, they would be let go by the cops. 

Commissioner Paul Rouleau asked Ferguson when exactly Ottawa police concluded that the Freedom Convoy protest went from being a protest to an “occupation.”

“Was there any discussion or thought given to how to allow the protest to continue in some form? It seems like it was from black to white. It was a protest until the end of the day Sunday but now it’s an occupation. Do you understand what I’m trying to get at?” Rouleau asked Ferguson.

“I’m not sure if there was any conversation about that,” Feruson responded. “I know from a command and strategic level it was that they’re here and they’re entrenched and they’re not leaving, so that is where it switched from a protest to an occupation.” 

Commission counsel asked both Ferguson and Abrams about the Coventry Road section of the protest and how PLT negotiators were used in that area of Ottawa. Protest leaders used a parking lot outside of the downtown core to act as a logistical hub to coordinate the transportation of resources like food, water and fuel to protesters in the downtown core. 

Abrams spoke to an incident prior to the invocation of the Act in which Ottawa PLT and OPP PLT teams were making breakthroughs to get shipments of fuel from Coventry Road to truckers on Wellington St. stopped. However, upon agreeing to let protesters drive away from Ottawa and not deliver the fuel, Ottawa cops, without coordinating with PLT teams, pulled the protesters over and charged them.

Abrams accused the Ottawa police enforcement leader of knowing about successful negotiations taking place at Coventry, but “decided to use it as an enforcement opportunity.”

“That caused extreme stress between the PLT team, both Ottawa Police Service and OPP PLT members, to the point where Ottawa police PLT members said, ‘you folks, you should go home. We’ve lost. We’ve lost any goodwill we were able to reach with some of the convoy organizers,” Abrams testified. 

Under questioning from counsel representing the Ottawa Coalition, a group of businesses and residents opposed to the convoy, as to why trucks were allowed into the city of Ottawa, Ferguson spoke to former police Chief Sloly’s insistence that Charter Rights be upheld and that protesters were allowed to access downtown Ottawa to protest peacefully. 

Speaking to the arrival of trucks into Ottawa, Abrams called it a “success”, echoing previous testimony given by law enforcement officials to the lack of criminal behaviour from the protesters and the overall peacefulness of the truckers prior to entering Ottawa.

“Overall we had no assaults. No criminality. They kept a lane of traffic open. They did what they said they would do. Didn’t damage any highways. It was a success getting them into the city of Ottawa,” Abrams said. 

The commission also heard Thursday of how Abrams wrote an email to his senior officers in the OPP about a call that Sloly coordinated with OPS officers, telling them that he would request twice as many out of jurisdiction officers as is required to end the protests based on recommendations from OPS officers on the ground.

Abrams described the call  as “strange”, saying: “He’s asking about doubling the ask he’s requesting from other police agencies in Ontario to support what’s happening in Ottawa with no plan. There’s no plan to plug these numbers into yet. These were just random numbers.”

 
What happens next?

Hearings resume tomorrow morning at 9:30 am ET.

Abrams will be cross examined by counsel of the various parties given standing by the Commission and OPP officer Carson Pardy is also scheduled to testify. 

Poilievre to skip Press Gallery dinner

By
Noah Jarvis
-

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre will skip this weekend’s Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner, his office has confirmed.

The dinner, a gathering of Ottawa media and political figures, is the first in three years after a hiatus due to covid-19. The roast-like event sees politicians and members of the media take the stage to make jokes, often at their own expense.

But Poilievre hasn’t established himself as someone who will have a cozy relationship with Ottawa media, with his recent critiques of the media and his pledge to decrease funding at CBC.

In his first days as the Conservative leader, Poilievre was heckled by press gallery member and Global News reporter David Akin, as he attempted to deliver remarks following a caucus meeting. Since then, Poilievre has not held any more press conferences and has not done any interviews with the media.

Former PM Stephen Harper likewise skipped the annual dinner while in government and was known for having a frosty relationship with media.

Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer participated in the dinner while he was leader, using the opportunity to make light of his support for dairy supply management. 

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