Ontario PCs reverse course on media ban, will let reporters cover Doug Ford’s speech at party convention

Ontario Premier Doug Ford addresses the Ontario PC Convention in Toronto, on Friday November 16 , 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has reversed course on a media ban at its upcoming convention.

The party was set to bar journalists from accessing the event for the first time since Ford became premier in 2018.

PC Party spokesman Peter Turkington says reporters will be allowed in for Ford’s speech at a fundraising dinner on Saturday.

Turkington did not explain the initial ban or why it was overturned.

Ford had defended the move earlier this week saying he was always available to reporters, but that the convention wouldn’t be.

The convention is set to take place this weekend at the Toronto Congress Centre in the suburb of Etobicoke, not far from Ford’s home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2026.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press