Global News reporter apologizes for heckling Poilievre

Global News reporter David Akin apologized on Tuesday after calling out Pierre Poilievre during his first press conference as Conservative leader.

“A lot of viewers called me about today’s presser on Parliament Hill,” Akin wrote in a Tweet. “Many said I was rude and disrespectful to Pierre Poilievre. I agree. I’m sorry about that.”

“We all want politicians to answer questions – but there are better ways to make this point,” Akin wrote.

Poilievre was repeatedly interrupted during a press conference where he criticized Trudeau for his mishandling of the inflation crisis.

As Poilievre began his presser, Akin can be heard yelling at the Tory leader and demanding to ask questions.

“We have a liberal heckler who snuck in here today.” said Poilievre. “Are you going to let me make my statement? In fact, I’ve never seen you heckle the Prime Minister.

Poilievre finally told Akin that he would answer two questions at the end of the press conference. “Let’s hope this time without a break from the liberal rowdy rally here.”

In a fundraising email later that day, Poilievre lashed out at Akin, writing, “Today I was making a statement about how Trudeau’s inflation hurts ordinary Canadians when someone started screaming.

“It’s true. Global News’ David Akin was swearing, yelling and heckling,” he wrote. “He wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say, and he certainly wasn’t interested to report it impartially.”

Poilievre took the opportunity to call out old media outlets and repeat his CBC fundraising plan.

“We cannot rely on the media to communicate our messages to Canadians,” he wrote. “We have to work around them and their biased coverage.”