clapping toronto

The Ontario government is now embroiled in a clapping controversy

Staffers in the provincial legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto have apparently adopted a new strategy for dodging questions—clapping loudly while reporters talk.

While the government denied last week when this was happening that it was coordinated, it's pretty clear that it begins in unison and on cue. After a speaker finishes speaking, the staffers begin clapping louder and louder over top of reporters asking questions. 

Cynthia Mulligan, a CityNews journalist, posted a video to Twitter this morning where she grilled the staff on the clapping strategy.

In it, one member of the clapping team admits they are being paid to be there. Mulligan then asks "you're being paid for it, by taxpayers, to clap?" She is ignored. 

In the video, the staffers can be seen grinning and laughing at Mulligan and the other reporters present as they continue the applause.

Critics and other members of the public are calling the strategy "anti-democratic," and an attack on the press. 

The strategy of drowning out genuine media, although apparently uncoordinated, seems to pair well with the PC party's new propaganda "news" channel, Ontario News Now.

In it, a staff member named Lyndsey Vanstone lists Doug Ford's achievements on camera. 

Lead photo by

Cynthia Mulligan


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