OTTAWA – Twitter asked the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, to delete a tweet that insulted individual reporters and shared their contact information.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Bernier called three journalists from the mainstream media “idiots” and listed their emails, writing: “They want to play dirty, we will play dirty too.”
He encouraged his 160,000 followers to contact reporters, posting excerpts of their requests for comment after Monday’s federal elections.
“Tell them what you think of their disgusting smear jobs,” Bernier wrote.
Reporters for CTV News, Global News, and the Hill Times had asked about endorsement of the PPC by white nationalist groups, fears among racialized Canadians about what the party stands for, and whether it tolerates possible hateful acts by supporters. in the electoral campaign.
The party did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.
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The Canadian Association of Journalists said journalists have a legal and ethical obligation to send questions to politicians and that persecuting journalists for doing their work is “unacceptable and dangerous.”
The publication amounts to “intimidation tactics out of an authoritarian manual,” said the association’s president, Brent Jolly.
“Sir. Bernier’s effort to harass journalists, to criticize his followers with journalists for basically doing their job and asking questions and holding them accountable, is absolutely deplorable,” he said in an interview.
Jolly compared Bernier’s tactic to efforts by some Republicans to “demonize the press.”
“It seems like he’s channeling a lot of the same behaviors that we see in American politicians and their dealings with the media,” he said. “This is what we have seen with Donald Trump and other right-wing politicians.”
In a tweet on Wednesday, #PPC leader #MaximeBernier called three journalists from the mainstream media “idiots” and listed their emails, writing: “They want to play dirty, we will play dirty too.”
A spokesperson for Twitter Canada says the company took enforcement action against Bernier’s account for violating its information privacy policy.
Founded by Bernier in 2018 after he narrowly lost the race for the Conservative leadership to Erin O’Toole, the People’s Party of Canada occupies territory to the right of the Conservatives, advocating for drastically reduced immigration levels, the withdrawal of the agreement. Paris climate and opposition to COVID. 19 vaccination restrictions and passports.
During the election campaign, some protesters against the vaccination measures promoted PPC posters. The party expelled one of the presidents of the Ontario Equestrian Association after allegations emerged that he threw gravel at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a stop in London, Ontario.
Later, the police charged Shane Marshall for the incident. The suspect shared the name of the former president of the PPC riding association, but the party did not confirm that they were the same person.
Bernier condemned the attack in a tweet, saying “physical violence is always wrong.”
The former Conservative cabinet minister, who identifies himself as a “limited-government conservative,” drew bustling crowds last month as he campaigned against vaccine mandates and pandemic closures amid a fourth rising wave.
This Canadian Press report was first published on September 23, 2021.
Note to Readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly reported that Twitter deleted Bernier’s tweet. In fact, it forced you to delete the post.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com