City Hall Says: You Can't Ask That
Not an official rule. But they want you to obey it anyway.
The Silencing of Medicine Hat: A Pattern That Should Outrage You
Something is happening at City Hall.
Not a scandal. Not a crime. Something quieter. Something more disturbing.
They are trying to control what questions get asked and what issues get discussed.
And if you think that doesn't matter, think again.
What is a "scrum" and why does it matter?
Before we get into what happened, let's talk about what a scrum is.
In journalism, a scrum is what happens when reporters gather around a politician after a meeting or legislative session to ask questions. The name comes from rugby - imagine players clustering around the ball, fighting for possession. In a media scrum, reporters cluster around a politician, competing for their attention.
Scrums have been a fixture on Parliament Hill for decades. They happen daily in the hallway outside the House of Commons. Reporters surround politicians as they exit the chamber.
Why are scrums important? Because they are unstructured. They are the "other Question Period" - the one with no rules and less decorum. They let reporters ask questions that might not have been asked during formal proceedings. They give politicians a chance to give longer answers than the 35 seconds allowed in the House.
Some of Canada's most famous political moments happened during scrums. Pierre Trudeau's famous quotes - "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation" and "just watch me" - were made during scrums.
Here is the key thing about scrums: nobody gets to tell a reporter what questions they can ask.
Even the comedians from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" were allowed to participate in scrums. They asked some outrageous questions. Nobody told them they couldn't because in a scrum, the questions are whatever the reporters want to ask; that is the whole point.
What happened at City Hall this week
The Owl attended the Energy, Land and Environment Committee (ELEC) meeting this morning.
Committee meetings are held in the Ted Grimm Conference room on the second floor at City Hall, access to this room is behind a secured door. Normally the secure door is unlocked 15 minutes before the meeting starts. The agenda packet says the closed meeting started at 9:30 AM; the open meeting was scheduled to start at 10:30 AM. At 10:30 AM, it was still locked. Security let us in and they were still in closed.
A staff member came out to tell the Owl that the open meeting would likely last less than a minute. There would be no Managing Director's Service Area Update (verbal) and they would not be discussing the action items list. The Owl said they were already here, so they might as well attend. It almost seemed like they were reluctant to let the Owl in the door, they would have been happy if we turned around and left.
The last time the ELEC met was June 18, 2026. This is an important committee - Medicine Hat is unique in Alberta because we own our own energy company. Surely there was something in the past four weeks that was worth talking about.
The staff member was right, the open portion lasted for less than a minute. No verbal update in open, no discussion of the one Action Item, not even to say - we are not going to talk about this today.
There were two council members in attendance: Chair Ted Clugston and committee member Bill Cocks. Vice Chair Stuart Young was not in attendance.
The Owl took the opportunity to ask questions. This is a long-standing practice: media attending in person have an opportunity to ask questions of staff and council members after the meeting. Obviously we could not ask anything about the closed meeting, so the Owl asked Councillor Cocks about his trip to the Calgary Stampede with Mayor Clark and Councillors Mohammed, Phaff, and Reynish. Councillor Clugston spoke as well - they were both willing to talk to the Owl.
The Owl was leaving the conference room when Terra Petryshyn, a Corporate Communications Specialist, approached Owl journalist Kelly Allard, saying she wanted to speak with her. The council members were still in the room, still seated at the table.
Petryshyn asked Allard to not ask council members about things that were not on the agenda.
Allard asked if it was an official policy. Petryshyn said no.
Allard asked if Petryshyn was speaking on behalf of the city. Petryshyn said no.
Allard told Petryshyn to email this information. Petryshyn said she was not going to do that.
Petryshyn said she was speaking as an individual - she felt it was not fair that Allard asked questions outside of the agenda. Allard ended the conversation and left.
Here is the thing: the councillors are adults. They were elected by the public, they can and are expected to speak for themselves. They do not need a communications staffer to shield them from questions. But there she was, trying to protect them from the big scary journalist.
It was weird. She was not speaking on behalf of the city. There was no official policy. She was just... inserting herself. And apparently her feelings matter more than the public's right to know.
Then came the Development and Infrastructure Committee meeting this afternoon. All three members were in attendance: Chair Mohammed, Vice Chair Phaff, and member Reynish.
The agenda packet said the closed meeting started at 1:30 PM; the open meeting was scheduled to start at 2:15 PM. It was only a few minutes late, but it meant they spent over 45 minutes behind closed doors. The open part lasted about half an hour; they spent more time in closed than they did in open.
The Owl asked the three members about their trip to Calgary. Reynish said that Colleen Graham (Director Corporate Communications) was already working on that with Allard. Allard replied that nobody was working with her. It turned out Reynish named the wrong person - it is Selena McLean Moore (Director of Economic Development) who is producing the report of the trip. Reynish would not comment further. Phaff said nothing, just packed up her things and left. Mohammed was willing to answer questions.
This is particularly ironic given Reynish's background. Before being elected, he was a talking head for CHAT TV. His questions were always softballs. He never asked hard-hitting questions. Now, as a councillor, he won't answer them either.
A motion that didn't get a seconder
This is not the first time councillors have avoided discussing something.
The Seconder Rule: What Councillors Say vs. What the Law Requires
On July 6, Councillor Cocks brought forward a motion about protecting our water from coal mining. Nobody would second it.
It looked like they were trying to avoid having an opinion on the matter. If it never gets on the table, they never have to talk about it. They never have to answer to their constituents about it.
That looked deliberate. It might not have been intentional, but the optics were very bad - especially after they had been seen in Calgary with the premier who supports coal mining.
The scrums that aren't
In January, Mayor Clark said there would be 20 minutes after each council meeting for questions. Now it is down to 10 minutes. And the media is being told to "stick to agenda items."
That is not a scrum. That is a controlled briefing.
What they are doing, and what it looks like
This is not about "fairness." It is about control.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of expression. That includes the right to ask questions. Any questions.
The Charter does not guarantee answers. Councillors can say "no comment." They can say "we'll get back to you." They can tell us to go fuck ourselves. That's fine - we can take it. It's all part of the game.
What they cannot do is tell the media what questions are allowed.
Reynish should know this. He spent years as a talking head at CHAT TV. He was a journalist - or at least, he played one on TV. If anyone on council should understand the importance of a free press, it's him. But when the questions came his way, he sat there and said almost nothing.
No defence of the media at the after council scrums.
Just silence.
That's not what journalism looks like.
When a city tries to limit what questions journalists can ask, they are not just being rude. They are undermining democracy.
Here is what it looks like:
It looks like the city is spending too much time behind closed doors. This morning's Energy, Land and Environment Committee spent over an hour in closed session and less than a minute in open That is not transparency. That is the opposite.
It looks like the city is avoiding difficult conversations. The water motion died because nobody would second it. If it never gets to the table, nobody has to take a stand. Nobody has to answer to the public. That is not democracy. That is avoidance.
It looks like city staff are trying to control what questions get asked. Petryshyn said it was "unfair" to ask questions not on the agenda. She refused to put that request in writing. She was not speaking as an official representative of the city. She was just sharing her feelings. And apparently her feelings are more important than the public's right to know.
It looks like the city is less approachable and about as transparent as lead. They promised more transparency. Instead, they are limiting scrums and lines of questioning.
It looks like a violation of the Charter. The Charter guarantees freedom of the press. Attempting to limit questions to only what is on an agenda is not just bad form. It is an attack on democratic accountability.
The Owl asked for a response
The Owl reached out to Mustansar Nadeem, Managing Director of Corporate Services, who oversees corporate communications. We asked for a response to what happened in regards to the interaction with Petryshyn. We gave a deadline of 2pm.
As of publication, we have not received a reply.
To be fair, The Owl has had a positive interaction with Mr. Nadeem recently. When the city held a press conference about the drowning at Echodale Swim Lake, The Owl was not given notice. We contacted Mr. Nadeem, and he ensured we received notice of the next press conference. The Owl also contacted Mayor Clark, and she spoke to staff as well.
Questions for council
You promised transparency. You promised accountability. You said you would do things differently.
So why are you spending more time in closed meetings than in open ones?
Why did a motion about water die because nobody would second it?
Why did a staff member tell journalists what questions are "fair"?
And why won't you just answer the questions?
The Owl's role
The Owl will keep asking questions. We will publish the answers when we get them. If we don't get answers, we will publish that too.
That is what journalism does. It asks questions. It holds power to account. It informs the public.
The Charter protects that right. It is not a gift from the city. It is a constitutional right.
And it is not negotiable.
What you can do
If you are outraged by this - and you should be - here is what you can do:
Attend council and committee meetings. Show up. Ask questions. Make them answer.
Write to your councillors. Tell them you expect transparency. Tell them you expect answers.
Tell the city you are watching. They need to know the public is paying attention.
Support independent journalism. The Owl is asking questions that nobody else is asking. That matters.
Please subscribe, advertise, or you can send money directly to any of our journalists.
AlexMcCuaig@comtv.ca
Tom@comtv.ca
Kelly@comtv.ca
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