Face of Nation : The Conservative Party is offering media organizations a dramatically reduced price to cover party leader Andrew Scheer’s campaign — a fee that’s a little less for the entire election period than what the party charged for two weeks in 2015.
The $11,500 fee is intended to encourage media outlets to assign reporters for the duration of the leader’s tour at a time when many news organizations are facing serious economic challenges.
“We obviously are going to take our message across the country,” Scheer said Monday during a stop in St. Catharines, Ont. “We have a great story to tell and we want to make sure that we get that story in front of Canadians in as many possible ways.”
The leader’s tour is a staple of modern political campaigns. In the past, major media outlets tasked reporters to such tours, to cover every rally and protest and document a leader’s every statement and stumble.
But as the number of media outlets has shrunk, and as the cost of assigning journalists to follow every party leader over a campaign lasting a minimum of five weeks has risen, the number of reporters ‘on the bus’ has also diminished.
But does offering what appears to be a cut-rate price for reporters violate any election laws? Is it a party subsidy or just good marketing by a savvy campaign team?
Conservative Party spokesman Cory Hann said the campaign isn’t offering media outlets a discount — it’s basing the price it charges on what it would cost those outlets to keep up with the leader’s travels on their own.
“We calculated the amount based what the cost would be for a journalist to follow the tour in the most obvious and economic way possible, that is, a flight pass and bus pass, plus purchasing Wi-Fi on buses and planes when available and meals when flying over regular meal time,” Hann wrote in an email reply to the CBC’s Katie Simpson.
“So our cost is reflective of that, and while it does come in at less than previous campaigns, it is far from subsidized travel as the plane will fly, the bus will run, whether there’s anyone in the seat or not.”
How are the Conservatives keeping the price so low? The New Democrats intend to charge media outlets $45,000 for the right to travel with leader Jagmeet Singh. The Liberals have yet to set their price for Justin Trudeau’s tour, but party spokesperson Braeden Caley said they also are working to keep costs as low as possible.
