In every riding we reported on—from Taiaiako’n–Parkdale–High Park to Toronto–St. Paul’s to Bowmanville–Oshawa North to across Peel—the pattern has been the same. Most Liberal and NDP candidates have been willing to sit and answer questions. Every Conservative candidate has ignored or declined our requests for interviews.

To be clear, this issue isn’t specific to The Local. Toronto–St. Paul’s candidate Don Stewart didn’t just ignore us, he turned down The Toronto Star and National Post. Across ridings, and across media outlets—from the CBC to Global News to sympathetic conservative newspapers like the National Post—candidates from the Conservative Party are simply refusing to talk with the press.

  • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    If the Conservative party doesn’t trust their candidates enough to allow them to speak to the media, why should we trust them with our votes?

    • tempest@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      It makes perfect sense though. The party has spent a lot of time being the “not Trudeau” Party. A lot of voters vote on vibes and don’t read the platforms or anything else.

      If they don’t have a platform or positions then they can be whatever a potential voter projects on them. It works. Ask a conservative voter why they are voting conservative and the majority won’t talk about the conservatives they will talk about the liberals or NDP.

      • running_ragged@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Campaign manager : Whatever you do, don’t sound like Trump or Maga when you speak.

        Candidate: Don’t speak. Got it.

      • adarza@lemmy.ca
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        2 days ago

        literally the only thing they have is the party affiliation noted beside their names on the ballot.

        they certainly haven’t got a platform or policy to benefit all voters. talking will just expose that fact and open them up to ‘hard’ questions they don’t want to (even try to) answer ‘on the record’.

      • blakenong@lemmings.world
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        2 days ago

        Most individual’s political opinions these days just has to do with hating the other side.

        People don’t like to be educated, because it challenges the options they want to have.

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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    This party is so clearly presenting a facade that they can’t even afford to talk to the press for the risk of poking a hole. This also means that the party leadership has ironclad grip on its MPs and therefore when in government the decisions really come down to a tiny circle of people with PP at the helm. This is how it was when Harper was our PM too. It was scary even back in 2012.

  • kubica@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    They know the “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.”