Conservative party denies convention accreditation to journalist

The Conservative Party of Canada denied accreditation to cover its annual convention to Nora Loreto, a journalist covering the convention for independent progressive media outlets The Maple and The Real News Network. 

Loreto applied for accreditation to cover the convention in Québec City for both outlets. The party did not respond to her first application to cover the convention for The Maple, or when she sent in a second application to cover the event for The Real News Network, she said on an episode of her co-hosted podcast Sandy and Nora. 

The party did not provide a reason for denying her accreditation, Loreto said on Twitter. Loreto was one of several journalists whose accreditation to the conference was denied. 

On Sept. 7, 2023, Loreto went to the convention and was able to interview delegates outside, The Maple reported. 

Loreto said she stayed by the media registration desk at the entrance to the convention for a few hours, hoping to be granted access. Security guards asked her to leave, she said. 

After waiting for a few hours, Loreto walked into a corridor inside the convention centre, where she said she was followed by a security guard who pushed her, told her to leave and said that she would “go to jail” if she continued to interview delegates. 

The security guard “was pushing me around with his body trying to force me out but like aggressively,” Loreto said on Twitter.