Great.
I'm here on behalf of independent, reader-funded journalists who are being pushed out of Canada's media landscape, not by the market but by their own government. Canada already has a two-tiered media system. On one side are government-subsidized outlets. On the other side are independent journalists who rely entirely on their market and their audience. We are increasingly denied equal access to both government and the public square.
Federal departments have decided who gets answers and who does not. An independent journalist was told by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada very recently that his organization does not qualify for these services. The services were answers to his questions. Global Affairs Canada has also done the same. The message is clear: If you're not approved, you're not entitled to answers.
The same pattern exists at the political level. We have seen elected officials refuse to answer questions from independent outlets. We have seen reporters arrested for attempting to question ministers. We have been denied access to federal leaders debates and forced to go to court, successfully twice, just to do our jobs. Increasingly, independent journalists are not just excluded; they're also treated like a problem to be managed.
The discrimination does not stop on Parliament Hill. Our journalists are routinely blocked from political events, not because we're disruptive but specifically because we're independent. At the Liberal convention, our journalists were refused accreditation. When they then were forced to conduct walk-and-talk interviews outside the venue, security was called on them at least twice—outside, in public, peacefully talking to people. In Edmonton, at Mark Carney's campaign kickoff, police were called on independent journalists simply for trying to ask questions—no disruption, no threat, just questions.
This is the pattern: Deny access, treat reporting like trespassing, and then escalate it to a security issue. Meanwhile, legacy outlets are waved through.
When independent journalists are shut out, it's not just reporters who are excluded; it's the millions of Canadians they represent. The distortion, however, goes deeper. The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars subsidizing legacy media. The money overwhelmingly flows to outlets that already receive preferred treatment. This creates a closed loop. Subsidized media get access, and access reinforces their dominance. Independent media, who reject government funding as a matter of principle, are left to compete in a tilted market. I reiterate that we do not want these subsidies. We reject them, because government money in journalism is political contamination.
Government policy is also interfering with how we reach our audience. Legislation like the Online News Act has disrupted how news is shared online. When platforms block news links, independent outlets lose a critical connection to their audience.
Then there's Parliament Hill itself. The parliamentary press gallery, a taxpayer-supported institution made up largely of our competitors, controls access to the Hill. Independent journalists are routinely denied membership, blocking us from press conferences and daily government proceedings.
Let's be clear about what this system in Canada produces. Government decides who is a journalist. Government funds those it prefers. Gatekeepers control access to power. Policy limits how the rest of us reach the public. This is not a free press. According to Reporters Without Borders, Canada has fallen from eighth place in 2015 to 21st place in 2025.
Independent journalists are not asking for special treatment. We're asking for equal treatment. End discrimination in media access, ensure that no journalist is blocked from public institutions by their competitors, and stop using public policy to interfere with how independent media reach their audience. A free press is not funded, filtered and approved by the government; it is free to challenge it. Right now, that freedom is under pressure, and it's time to restore it.
Thank you.