13-year-old Ontario journalist says Lecce is ignoring his interview requests

Stills from Stephen Lecce's appearance on the Wyatt Sharpe Show in 2021 can be seen above. (The Wyatt Sharpe Show/YouTube)

A 13-year-old Ontario journalist who has interviewed big names in Canadian politics says the Minister of Education has been rejecting or ignoring interview requests from him for almost a year.

Wyatt Sharpe, a Clarington, Ont. resident, interviewed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford on his Youtube channel, the Wyatt Sharpe Show. Recently, he spoke to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton.

But for almost a year now, he says he's been asking Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s office for a one-on-one interview. After repeated requests, Sharpe posted about his effort to try “everything possible” to interview the minister.

In response, he says he received an email from a Ministry spokesperson on Nov. 21 saying, “I don’t appreciate you tweeting that we aren’t responding to you, Other than a broad media availability, the Minister was not doing any 1x1 interviews.”

Received this from a senior member of Minister Lecce’s staff.

“I don’t appreciate you tweeting that we aren’t responding to you.”

For context:

Over the course of the last few weeks I’ve been emailing, tweeting and trying everything possible to interview Minister Lecce.

— Wyatt Sharpe (@wyattsharpe8) November 21, 2022

 

The Ministry of Education did not respond to CTV News Toronto's requests for comment on the matter by the stated deadline.

Sharpe’s recent urgency to reach the minister is tied to the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) labour negotiations with the Ford government. On Sunday, the two parties reached a tentative agreement and averted a potential strike.

“I’m asking questions that I know students, educators and parents want to know,” Sharpe, who is currently in Grade 8, said.

A year ago, Lecce appeared on the Wyatt Sharpe Show to speak about mental health and COVID-19 vaccines. At the time, Sharpe said the ministry was accepting and welcoming, but since then, the tone has changed as his show’s engagement has grown.

In his coverage of the labour negotiations, Sharpe has interviewed Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, and CUPE Ontario President Fredd Hahn.

In an effort to produce balanced reporting, Sharpe said he “almost felt an obligation” to tweet about Lecce’s lack of availability.

“He's the only person on education issues that I haven't had the opportunity to speak with,” he said.

“The role of government is to be accountable to the public. Me putting out these tweets…it’s because I have an obligation as a journalist.”