The Post Millennial
November 17, 2021
-The Post Millennial
The House of Commons is threatening to stop journalists who do not disclose their vaccine status from covering events on the Hill, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
On top of this, the Parliamentary Press Gallery has made no attempt to fight this ruling. The secretary of the Press Gallery said that “we’re not the ones making it impossible.”
“The rules have been put in place. If they don’t like the rules and they choose not to follow the rules, that’s their choice,” Amanda Connolly of Global added. “It’s not our job to help them circumvent the rules in place.”
From November 22 onwards, all MPs, press, staff, and visitors to Parliament must disclose their proof of vaccination. They also have the ability to present a negative COVID-19 test in place of the proof of vaccination.
If reporters do not comply, a clerk warned, they will have their press passes revoked.
The president of the press gallery said that “if we want to fight this I will fight this. If we decide we don’t want to put our energies in there, that is fine too. This is not our policy. We are not going to be enforcing, absolutely.”
It is unclear how many members of the press gallery are unvaccinated if any.
“We are not going to be policing anybody,” added the press gallery president, Catherine Levesque. “That is up to the House of Commons and Senate to do that.”
