Noteworthy: Politicians used to be judged by how they spoke to media. Now they don’t even do that.

By Bruce Penton on April 16, 2025.

Oh, how happy political reporters would be if the old-fashioned scrum became a reality again.

Defined on dictionary.com as “a chaotic, rushed attempt by multiple reporters to question one or more politicians, celebrities, etc.,” a political scrum at an event featuring federal leaders would be, for the reporters anyway, the best part of the day.

The reporters would yell out questions, their tape recorders and microphones jammed as close to the politician’s face as possible, and try to get an answer to a question for which the politician might not be prepared. If the political leader were to get a question they didn’t want to answer, a ‘no comment’ might be construed as trying to hide something, and it might not end well. For the politician anyway. The reporter would have reason to believe something of importance was being withheld and would likely result in further investigation.

But the old-style scrum has disappeared. Canadian news outlets are particularly annoyed at Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who keeps reporters at a distance as much as possible in the run-up to the April 28 federal election. National news outlets have reporters following the leaders, but those on the trail of the Conservatives say Poilievre will allow only four questions after an event, and many of them are vetted in advance. No room there for a ‘gotcha’ question. As well, reporters are often kept behind barriers quite a distance away from the party leader’s lectern.

Back in the good ol’ days, political reporters would travel from city to city on the same plane as the politicians, with their news outlets paying the freight for the reporter. This year’s election sees reporters covering Poilievre having to make their own travel arrangements, and then hope to get to the event on time. The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois, on the other hand, continue to have reporters travel together with the politicians.

Obviously, controlling the message is important. But controlling it and making it nearly impossible to ask important questions are two different things. In terms of transparency and accountability, Canadian voters deserve better from the leader of the party that may form the next federal government.

â€¢ I pride myself in generally being sympathetic to the downtrodden and vulnerable members of our society, but I can’t abide the folks who station themselves at a busy intersection with a cardboard sign begging for money. The signs normally detail a compelling tale of woe.

For the most part, the people holding the signs appear to be young and relatively healthy, and my immediate thought is there has to be some sort of employment available to them, if they would put down the sign and go knocking on some business owners’ doors.

Stuck at a red light, motorists face a sign-holding young person walking back and forth on the boulevard, not causing any trouble and making no threats, but what is the motorist to do? Make eye contact? Ignore them? Smile and say ‘good luck with your fund-raising?’ ‘Get a job, buddy.’

But then, one wonders how it came to be that a person resorts to begging. What has gone on in their life to lead them to this intersection with a cardboard sign? Maybe they have a health problem that keeps them out of the workforce. Maybe a family squabble has left them homeless. Where will the money go? To buy some fruit at a local grocery store? A pack of smokes? Pay off a debt to a drug dealer? A coffee and doughnut at Tim Hortons?

Who knows? Come to think of it, next time I see a person begging for some coins, I’ll toss them a quarter. Maybe even a loonie.

â€¢ Hatters don’t have to be told that Tigers’ star Gavin McKenna has some special talents, but slowly but surely, the whole country is finding out.

He led Canada’s U-18 team in scoring in 2024, was one of only a couple of 17-year-olds on this year’s World Junior Hockey Championship team, and national sports media have long projected the native of Whitehorse, Yukon to be the first overall selection in the National Hockey League draft in the summer of 2026.

Last Sunday, during Jay Onrait’s SportsCentre show on TSN, a McKenna goal was not only featured in the regular recap of sports events, but McKenna’s spectacular goal against Prince Albert Raiders was selected as the “highlight of the night.”

Onrait called it hockey’s “goal of the year,” not differentiating between junior and the NHL. The national media exposure further embellished McKenna’s ever-growing reputation across the land.