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Liberal observers must pay $199 plus tax for the honour of watching the rival Tories elect a new leader. (Cole Burston/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The Conservative Party of Canada is breaking age-old tradition andnot welcomingLiberal MPs to attend their convention this weekend free of charge.In an e-mail exchange Thursday night, Liberal communications officer Braeden Caley hadlodgeda request for observer accesswithConservative communications officer Cory Hann, saying:

..we are wondering if the Conservative Party will continue previous practice of allowing a limited number of observers at your leadership convention this weekend We are looking to have 2 Liberal Members of Parliament and 1 party official join for parts of the event, and as you will know, a number of media outlets are hosting perspectives from a variety of parties on site.We would appreciate you clarifying this tonightand like I mentioned, we would continue to reciprocate on the same number of observers for Liberal conventions.

Hann denied the request. The Liberals requested free passes, he told Macleans by email on Friday.I did not have free passes to provide. Standard practice is to trade passes for policy conventions. Still, asthe e-mail exchange shows, the Liberalsoffered to return thegesture at future policy conventions or leadership eventslike the one this weekend.The two Liberals planning to attend were MPs Adam Vaughan and Francis Drouin. Hann says they could buy passes to the event like members of the public, for $199 plus tax.TheGritssay its absurd for the Tories to demand one party to pay another partyan unprecedented move that discourages them from attending.

Im at a loss for words, and Im not normally at a loss for words, said Vaughan. The Conservatives sort of like to turn turtle, and look inwards. They have a history of trying to operate in a secluded environment all the time, and I guess they havent been able to shake that. He explains that observing helps gather information on competitors. Youre always curious to see the up-close workings of the opposition to see where theyre going, so you can get there before they do.

Canadian politicians have long had the freedom to snoop at each others gatherings. Granting cross-party observer status is considered a gesture of transparency.Conservatives including Jason Kenney and James Moore have attended national Liberal conventions since 2004, as have NDP Olivia Chow and Nathan Cullen. At the 2016 national NDP convention, the Liberals Randy Boissonault kept watch.

In this case, the Conservatives seeminhospitable solely toward Liberals; New Democrat Alexandre Boulerice will attend the Conservative convention on Saturday with his press secretary, Sarah Andrews, who says theyve been told theyll have free passes waiting for them when they arrive.They are reversing a long precedent and closing up shop even more than Harper did, says Braeden Caley of the Liberals.It makes one wonder about the more extreme agenda that the party is bringing forward with these leadership candidatesand what they have to hide.

RELATED: The highs and (many) lows of the Conservative leadership race

Sometimes, inter-party spying goes too far. In February, an undercover caucus member of the B.C. Liberals was accused ofattending an NDP youth meeting and videotaping the gathering of10 young people. She then secretly recorded these youths, using a cell phone she tried to hide on her lap, David Eby, NDP housing critic, toldThe Tyeeafter the fact. Eby accused the operative of pretending to take a phone call when it came time for a group photo. He said she posed as an NDP youth when really she was trying to dig up dirt for the election.

But official observers are generallya symbol of civildemocracy, and Vaughan notes that theyprovidein-personaccess to alternative opinions for journalists. The phenomenon predates the Internet, when it wouldve been more difficult for the media to talk toopponents who werent on site. As a former reporter,Vaughan says, Im not sure whose lives theyre trying to make miserable. With access to Liberals at the Tory convention, he adds, we [would] have less cranky journalists hanging around.

Vaughan is still scheduled to speak in a TVpanel discussion and do interviews withseveral news outlets inside the venue this weekend. Im assuming Ill be able to be escortedthrough the crowd, he says.

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Tories to Liberals: pay up, or don't come to our convention - Macleans.ca