15 Days Out: The Fight to Cover What They Don't Want Seen

Friends,

We are now 15 days out from the Conservative Party convention in Calgary, and I want to be very clear about what's happening behind the scenes.

I applied for free media accreditation to cover the convention as an independent journalist.

My request was denied.

Not because I'm unqualified.
Not because I lack an audience.
Not because I don't do serious reporting.

But the Conservative Party of Canada increasingly prefers managed narratives over independent scrutiny.

If you don't play ball, you don't get let in.

That decision made something obvious: if this reporting is going to happen, it will only happen because regular people choose to fund it. Not parties. Not insiders. Not the right-wing establishment media

In 15 days, Conservative delegates will debate policies that will affect every Canadian: healthcare, climate, free speech, national sovereignty, and the direction of the right in this country. What gets passed—and what gets quietly buried—matters.

And much of it will never be covered honestly unless someone is willing to show up without permission and report anyway.

I am going to Calgary as independent media, not as a delegate, not as a participant, and not as a cheerleader. That choice matters. Journalism that holds power accountable cannot be embedded in the machinery of power itself.

But independence has a cost.

Flights. Lodging. Credentials. Equipment. Time.
When free access is denied, the only remaining option is reader-funded journalism, the kind that answers to citizens instead of party staffers.

This is the final stretch.

If you believe:

• Political parties should not get to choose who covers them
• Independent media should not be punished for asking hard questions
• Canadians deserve to know what happens inside the room, not just what’s approved for release

Then I'm asking you to help fund this trip.

Every donation right now directly supports on-the-ground reporting in Calgary. Not punditry. Not spin. Real coverage of what delegates debate, what factions are rising, and what direction the Conservative movement is actually heading.

They said no.
That doesn't mean the story doesn't get told.

It just means it gets told without their permission.

— Will Adams
Editor, The Provincial Times