Now the media is doing it...

[jsburbidge]

From the National Post, quoting Mayor Tory: "that's an issue that is not a municipal issue, per say...".

Where does this come from? It shrieks of barbarism. I assume it is the Post writer's error, and not derived from a printed statement of Tory's.

The expression is per se, literally "through itself", meaning "as such" or "in itself". "Per say" is meaningless.

I have seen individuals make this mistake, and held my tongue. But a newspaper should know better.

ETA: The Globe got it right; the Star and the CBC do not quote that statement in their coverage of the story.