‘Thank God we don’t have the media’: Ford praises closed-door announcement
The joke was Doug Ford's last remark at an event which looked like a news conference but had no reporters in attendance, part of a recent trend for his government.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford praised a recent announcement, remarking that "Thank God we don’t have the media," during a closed-door news conference-style event in Mississauga. Standing among construction vehicles and workers at a muddy site, Ford wrapped up his remarks without reporters in attendance, opting to livestream the event on the Premier of Ontario's official YouTube channel instead.
The event, which featured politicians standing behind the same podium used for Ontario-Canada housing announcements, was attended by the federal government and Mississauga's mayor. Ford's office defended the decision, claiming it was standard practice for stakeholder announcements and did not disclose who the stakeholders were. This trend of holding public-funded events without media presence has become increasingly common under the Ford government, with previous announcements made for a workers' memorial, the Bradford Bypass, North York General Hospital groundbreaking, and Eglinton Crosstown West LRT construction—all without reporters present.
Critics, including interim Liberal Leader John Fraser and NDP Leader Marit Stiles, have called the moves anti-democratic and an attempt to evade scrutiny and accountability.
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