My goodness. Can the country withstand a repeat of the national outpouring of disinterest that erupted during last year’s CBC strike?
In parliamentary press gallery story #1,356 about the parliamentary press gallery…
Prior to the start of a news conference in which Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would contribute $40 million in humanitarian and military assistance to the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, members of the press gallery simultaneously got up and left, moments before the prime minister arrived in the room, in an act of defiance against new news conference rules imposed against the media.
Seems a perfect time to present the SDA Quote Of The Week – “Ural” on the Media Opposition Party;
“Greens would kill to get the press that the press gets”
If I were Stephen Harper, I’d use the opportunity to change the locks.
It’s like a pompous, uninvited, know-it-all house guest threatening to leave.
lefties are showing anonymously – haha funny.
Stand your ground Stephen. You can’t can’t blood from a rock.
I’m so glad I never gave into the Edmonton Journal Salesman the other day, told them they’re still too Liberal for me to support.
Boycott CBC.
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental
principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”
Joseph Paul Goebbels
Harper’s Five Key Priorities?
Posted by: anonymous at May 24, 2006 12:22 AM
Interesting how you wake up after 13 years of such tactics utilized ad nauseum by the Liberals to severely undermine democracy in this country, commit crimes against the people and theive their way through 4 elections and immediately attach significance to the Conservative 5 point plan.
What a moron. Anonymous or othewise!
Just catching up on news of the day via Nealenews. With headlines about CBC vs. Stompin Tom and the Bush vs U.S. Media. It’s becoming ever apparent that m.s.m. has taken on a life of it’s own; like genetically modified Frankenfood. Don’t want to swallow it, but not sure you can survive without it.
Sorry for earlier error; can’t get blood from a stone.
Hey anonymous: One other really excellent fundamental principal to ensure that repetetive propaganda is believed. Do what you say you are going to do.
Whoops, I guess that makes it the truth then doesn’t it. Nice try.
Lorraine
I liked your post very much. Its what I like about this Blog. Some really smart folks on here. People not blinkered by current propaganda. A nice change I can tell you.
What disillusioned me about the MSM. Was the entire behavior of these Politicked muck rackers, white washing Shawanagate. During the pontificate of Jean Creiten.
What they did by covering up this evil was extend the rot at the core of this Nation.
They felt no loyalty too there readership , nor there own duty as citizans.
Far from being the watchdogs of the public, they participated in this exercise of greed & sleeze.
They made it into nothing, & billions later we paid for there treachery.
They have still not ralized how close this Federation came to splintering. Why ? Because they have no ear to the ground & lived in the glitter of there political Masters.
In other words they sold there souls for scaps from the totolitarian, kleptomanics at Ottawa’s taxpayers table. They ate the bread stolen from there countrymen, & as the wolves took over . Rejoiced at every perversion of civility & reason.
I believe you are correct in the assumption that many where getting sweet side deals. Power as well by being there lap dogs.As well as Senate appointments, I think 3 GG’s coming from CBC say’s it all. Thank you for your insight.
That the MSM have made it their mission to make themselves the news, they’ve just cancelled their right to even be there. And I should say, the Ottawa MSM, the rest seem to work just fine and get way more questions asked and answered than we ever had with the Liberals.
This line really is food for thought and perhaps punitive action by the PMO.
“They have done such a huge diservice to this country treating opinion as “news” and allowing misinformation to stand unchallenged.”
HT to Lorraine
“The new power is not interested in making the press a propaganda tool. The press is expected to, instead, communicate information. The Press cannot do this; it has, for over a decade, functioned as a propaganda office.”
HT to ET
One of the best discussions I’ve read in a while.
Thanks,
Pat
Sda, and like minded blogs plus WS and Neale’s news are the best scorces of news in this country. I actually enjoy reading the news and I like having the opinions of other Canadians to read with the news. Kate, you have excellent reporters right here; they comment in your comments section and often suppy links – esp Mazz.
The press gang is not a Canadian ‘value’ it is a Liberano/dipper ‘value’; therefore it has no value – it COSTS taxpayers $$$. It is time that we, the people, demanded answers from that corrupt outfit; such as why they covered up the corruption in the former pack of thieves that were in office befor the Conservatives took over. Were they accessories? Did they have vested interests in keeping the Liberano/dipper people in power? It is time for them to answer our questions and it is time they started answering.
The PM’s office sends me all the latest press releases via e-mail – I know when the spin is ‘off the wall’ to the wacko left. I bring up the news – and prove the press gang wrong.
I’m so proud of our PMSH for getting those fleas off his back.
Let’s see, Ward:
Clean up government by passing the Federal Accountability Act;
(Nothing yet.)
Provide real tax relief to working families by cutting the GST;
(Debateable, since various experts came up with different numbers, some negative and some positive, but no REAL relief.)
Make our streets and communities safer by cracking down on crime;
(Nothing yet.)
Help parents with the cost of raising their children;
($100/mo. barely covers half a week of child care in most places.)
and
Work with the provinces to establish a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.
(Nothing yet.)
So, I’d say that the Harper government hasn’t done much yet, other than confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over…
CPAC (cpac.ca) has been showing re-runs of an interesting panel:
“On May 14th Don Martin from the National Post, former Jean Chrétien communications director Peter Donolo, Sandra Buckler the current director of communications for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the CBC’s Keith Boag discussed media relations with the new Conservative government in Ottawa at the Canadian Association of Journalists National Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.”
Their schedule is not clearly set out for days in advance, but watch for a repeat of this one.
The panelists take questions from the audience of journalists.
Some very pointed questions, on the cosy relationship between the media and Liberal government were asked.
It was curious to see the Keith Boag skirt around why these relationships have to be ‘un-pretty’ sometimes.
This kind of stunt today, will have the reader questionning the objectivity of the reporter even more.
Certainly enjoy the regional press sessions, and the regular e-mail updates that allow for the whole context of the speeches and announcements…good thinking to offer that.
Hey Anon…
Clean up government by passing the Federal Accountability Act;
(Started, Don’t worry, by the time PMSH is done, people will be accountable)
Provide real tax relief to working families by cutting the GST
(Done, Starts July 1st, 2006)
Make our streets and communities safer by cracking down on crime;
(Started, Lets see…10 million tranferred from the black hole gun registry to front line poilicing…sounds good to me, more to come from Vic Toews in Justice)
Help parents with the cost of raising their children;
(Done, cheques will be in the mail soon)
Work with the provinces to establish a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.
(Nothing yet.) I’ll agree with that for now, although I am sure that it is being looked at. Of all the promises made, this is the toughest to bring about. It has been studied to death. It will take some time for good people to wade through the mountain of information and come up with a plan that will bring results.
How about the softwood lumber deal! They promised me that they would address and dismantle the long gun registry- done- they’ll starve it to death. First meeting today in Regina today on renewable energy, a campaign promise on its way to being fulfilled. Lots accomplished for the first 100 days or so.
The Liberals and NDP keep howling about the “lost daycare deal”. I am so happy that didn’t go through. I don’t believe it was ever costed properly (training, wages, facilities, regulatory beaurocrats to licence and regulate etc, etc, etc.) by the preceding government and would have been the costliest white elephant we would have ever adopted. It would just be one more black hole for tax money. At least the Conservative plan puts money in the hands of everyone with children six and under and gives them the freedom to spend it however they choose for daycare, no doubt a supplement for many but at least it is fair and treats all families equally, not to mention it is easy to project a proper and accurate cost.
Happy with the Harper Conservatives!
Daniel
Hey Lorraine,
Great post! Thanks for the Media relations insight. Sounds a little too much like common sense!
Are you looking for a job? You might want to send your resume into Ottawa, I am thining that over the next few months as the various Cabinet Ministers begin to start making announcements and doing interviews, they just might need a saavy and experienced Communications and Media Relations director. Listened to Rona Ambrose (Go Alberta!) speak to the press today about the Renewable Energy meetings held in Regina today. It was refreshing to hear the facts laid out without spin and polish. I am not sure if she took questions after or not, but I was impressed and look forward to good things ahead.
Daniel
Hey Daniel:
I’m happy for you that you’re so positive. However, if you take a close look at the results, it’s hard to imagine what you’ve presented as anything more than window dressing.
“Don’t worry, by the time PMSH is done, people will be accountable.” History has shown that, in the case of politicians, this is highly unlikely.
“Provide real tax relief to working families by cutting the GST.” Counteracted by raising the income tax rate – any benefit will be minimal.
“10 million tranferred from the black hole gun registry to front line poilicing.” Sounds like a lot, but assuming $60k per year salary per cop means only an additional 166 extra police officers for the whole country.
“How about the softwood lumber deal!” When someone steals your money then gives back 80%, is that really a victory? When all the NAFTA rulings were going in Canada’s favour (forget about WTO because they have no jurisdiction in this matter)and the Canada capitulated, I think that says alot about our lack of leadership back bone.
I’ll admit that promoting renewable fuel resources is a good thing, but let’s get real: Harper’s results for the last 100 days are hardly earth shattering. It’s certainly not the second coming of Christ, as some here make it out to be.
Readership is down in newspapers and their demise is soonTelevision viewing is also down but our taxes support the CBC and the other networks as the government is their salvation.
The internet and the bloggers put forth the truths that our msm have failed to do for years and their readership and numbers are increasing.
No one will miss their words of poison.
Readership is down in newspapers and their demise is soonTelevision viewing is also down but our taxes support the CBC and the other networks as the government is their salvation.
The internet and the bloggers put forth the truths that our msm have failed to do for years and their readership and numbers are increasing.
No one will miss their words of poison.
So it begins.
First get the media to out itself as liberal shills.
Whats next? I don’t really know, but I get the feeling deregistration of a “so-called” natural governing party might be coming soon.
Ahhhh, the hill press gallery is not treated well by the PMO. Maybe when they show respect, they will receive respect.
Just some example of media’s unprofessional behaviour:
Does anyone recall the media circus last year, when the hill press surrounded Chuck Cadman like a pack of wolves asking how he would vote in the house? Anyone with a half a brain, knew Chuck would not reveal it before he actually voted in the house.
Does anyone recall how MSM made fun of Stephen Harper’s cowboy outfit?
Does anyone recall how MSM made a huge news story when Stephen Harper walked his kids to school and shook their hands?
During the last minority government, every single week MSM treated us to polling “news” about “Canadians don’t want an early election”. Talk about swaying public opinion!
Every single day CTV and CBC have “journalists” commenting? Hey, why not report the facts and have some balanced discussions?
MSM and hill press gallery have become very, very irrelevant by losing their reputation and integrity.
Congrats on being cited in the Toronto Sun’s “Best of the Blogs” today!
Great post, BTW.
Anyone know who the 14 journalists were that walked out of the news conference were?
The names of the 14 should be published. The blogosphere could then proceed to rip them shiny new assholes.
Anonymous: If you would be so kind, please compare the first 100 days of Stephen Harper’s tenure to the first 100 days of Paul Martin’s …or Chretian’s for that matter. I strongly suspect that Mr. Harper’s reign will be shown to be far more effective.
Do you really expect anyone to believe that a minority government can make any earth-shattering changes in 100 days? Get a grip on reality, please. They are moving forward on their priorities in a focussed manner, unlike the Liberals who were all about just making empty pronouncements on everything under the sun without actually doing anything.
Pick up a copy of the Liberal’s Red Book from the early 1990’s and document for us what they accomplished in 13 years…then ruminate on what PMSH has accomplished in 100 days.
Quoting Goebbels is presumably meant as an allusion to the “scary Harper” meme (as in…the Conservatives are fascist, right?), but is in reality a useless tactic. Goebbels was EVIL, the Nazis were EVIL, but not every utterance from their mouths was necessarily EVIL…Goebbels insight into how easy it is/was to fool the population through propaganda is accurate (and apparently a must read for Liberals and journalists in the MSM based on THEIR messaging).
Daring to speak on behalf of Kate (very, very unwise on my part…sorry Kate) and other regular contributers here, I would say that you are welcome to contribute here but use your name or select a nom-de-blog…anonymous postings are for trolls.
Anonymous wrote “No, the Liberals used the media to form public opinion.”
Well Anon, this is exactly what the problem was.
Canadians don’t need to be told what their opinion is. They need to form their own opinion by reading the reported facts and doing a little thinking.
As someone once said “If you think just like me, only one of us is thinking”
I just got back from a 4 day long holiday weekend and guess what I discovered being away from blogging – In the outside world, no one cares – hear that MSM (and all you “anonymous” posters) – NO ONE CARES.
Hence – poll numbers of 43% (the MSM must be very, very pissed off that their continual degrading of the CPC is not working with Canadians and they are coming to the realization that they are not the end all and be all of Canadian politics)
Some critics are saying that the Liberal lapdog MSM in Canada is irrelevant, untrustworthy, and getting exactly what they deserve.
Who reads him? Find the pearls among the slop. What’s an ad-versary? (Harper’s reading Kinsella, too.) W is a boaster.. but… he has experience.
OK. But… there is/are some wisdumbs in this piece by Barney…. (Nat Post wrote re Shawinigate for months, front page above fold, below fold, & etc. Ad$cam Chretien/Martin/Gagliano bribes carried the day. Human nature?)
Excerpt:
“Part two: voters aren’t stupid. They know when someone is trying to bamboozle and beguile them. They knew Conrad Black hated Jean Chretien over some knighthood thing, and they weren’t about to let his grudges become their own. The fact that Mr. Black had become a bit of a caricature of a rich guy didn’t help his newspaper’s case much, either.
In politics, unlike in life, it’s usually a good idea to have an identified enemy: it helps to identify you. So we nasty Liberals made Conrad Black and the Post our adversary. It worked.
When and if the Post buys the farm, I guess we’ll have to find a new enemy. In the meantime, I’m lobbying for a Royal Commission to investigate whether Stephen Harper has a personality.
Observation two: the National Post’s Shawinigate obsession didn’t hurt Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party. It helped Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party.
I won’t bore you with all the details, because you’ve already been bored by them. Hotel, golf course, BDC, RCMP, CBC, BBC, ABC, blah blah blah.”
http://www.warrenkinsella.com/words_speeches_caj.htm
If I was advising the PMO, I’d be recommending they move quickly into the digital age and began recording all press conferences in a compressed digital format (Real Player or Windows) that was available both for viewing from a PMO website and downloadable so it can be emailed between citizens. In such a way you take the reporters and their bias out of the role of interpretters and give the information to the citizens directly so they can make up their own minds.
Lorraine, your comment is perfect.
“They have done such a huge diservice to this country treating opinion as “news” and allowing misinformation to stand unchallenged.”
That’s exactly what the Press and Liberals have done. They have assisted the corruption and the mismanagement and the lack of attention to Canada’s needs for a decade.
Anonymous, speaking of misinformation, you are misinformed on a great deal. The softwood lumber tariffs are not theft; the USA stole nothing, but Canada DID subsidize its forestry industry by its low stumpage fees. That made their produce unfairly cheap, hence the tariffs. Read up the facts.
No government should act as a revolution but as a ‘bricoleur’. Step by step by step. Remember, Canadians have been brainwashed for a generation, to consider the state as a centralist unaccountable authority that is beyond questioning?
Just to take one small yet important example of the Canadian passivity and its focus on emotional opinion rather than fact –
Why would any population accept the state telling them that a long gun registry is vital because it protects them because it gets ‘5,000 hits a day from police questioning it’? Why? Our population has been brainwashed into submissive acceptance of outrageously dumb non-facts.
THINK.
That would mean 5,000 long gun related crimes per day, 35,000 per week, almost two million per year!!!! Is that factual?
No.
There are about 15,000 gun related crimes PER YEAR in Canada. And, almost all of them are handguns. Handguns have been registered since 1934. Fat lot of good that has done.
So – what’s with the news media ‘facts’ and the Liberals telling us all about 5,000 ‘hits a day’?
The police computers are all linked. When your local police officer checks on the licence plate of the car blocking the laneway, that check will hit ALL linked data bases. Including the long gun registry, which is not a car.
So – the media and Liberals/NDP are lying to us.
Is that the type of communication system you prefer?
You need to get into facts, not opinions.
Anonymous said:
“Harper’s results for the last 100 days are hardly earth shattering. It’s certainly not the second coming of Christ, as some here make it out to be.”
Well gee if they were earth shattering, we wouldn’t be here discussing his results; and secondly, presumably the second coming of Christ would have occured.
I don’t know about you Anonymous, but I don’t recall that Christ was offered a spot on the ballot in the last election. Perhaps you could offer some illumination in this regard?
Technorati, Topix.net (a Knight Ridder company) and Associated Press have inked a msm / blog deal…
It will link news stories to blogs..
the info is at http://www.ctv.ca and the real link is too long to post.
I get the sense that the MSM and particularly the PPG has gone too far this time. The Conservatives are showing them for what they are..a Liberal biased propaganda machine. When was the last time you read a report from the Globe or Star which outlined the real facts of a particular policy? You would be hard pressed. The public has bought the Kyoto Protocol saying that we need to meet the emissions targets set for Canada. Nobody is honestly telling them what we as a country would need to do to achieve those targets. The economy of Canada would be ruined. The long gun registry has been a disaster. However, no newspaper has taken upon itself to really get behind the rhetoric i.e. 5000 hits a day to determine whether any of these hits have helped the police or has one crime been prevented. The MSM in Canada needs to abandoned its political biases and begin reporting the real facts without a hidden agenda.
Anon,
I spent several years as a door to door salesman. Something the ones who post at this site should know and remember when addressing people like yourself… “The strongest objections always come from the buyer” Someone who is indifferent is not going to bother to object.
The fact that you raise objections tells me that you are considering whether or not PMSH and the Conservative Party are going to get your vote in the next election. I believe that hey are working to earn your vote. Success in a minority government is going to be measured in small incremental steps… not in the second coming of (name your favorite Prime Minister)
Whether you can see it or not, the Conservatives under Stephen Harper are accomplishing more in the first few months of their tenure than Mr Dithers or the little man from Shawinagan did in several years.
Out on the seas…the bigger the ship, the longer it takes to turn it about. We are in a big ship and are gradually coming about!
Anon, you are welcome aboard but state your name and work with the crew, this ship has been dead in the water for too long.
Daniel
Just heard Hannah Boudreau (sp?) on Global spin the events of yesterday. The PPG’s position on the list, that the PMO wants to go from, is that they are afraid of being black-listed from said list if they do a bad story. She concluded essentially, that we’re (the public) losing out because all we’re getting is the government line – un-challenged. For example she said they didn’t get to ask any questions about the Sudan situation, ie: are there any troops going there? Hasn’t that been asked, and answered?
Truth or consequences? I pick truth. Leave out the whining and all the rest. You report the facts, all the facts, and I’ll decide for myself on election day who’s done the most with my money, who’s looking after my family, and who’s looking down the road. Shut up and drive or get over.
I remember watching “Live from Baghdad”, a movie about some CNN journalists just prior to the first Gulf war. In it, they said “The number one rule in journalism is ‘Never become the story'”. Then during the movie, they got all ticked off because during their efforts to get the story, they said, “Guys, we just became the story.”
I hadn’t thought of the possible strategy behind it all, but it’s so true… the MSM’s little stunt may end up blowing up in their faces as outing their true colours. Most people, when I mention this whole fiasco, say “Huh?” THEY HAVEN’T EVEN NOTICED.
Now, there’s no telling what the MSM will do to us as retribution in the next election… they may come back and try to kill us. We’ll see.
I’d like the names of the journalists who walked out too. Please post them if anyone gets them.
And good for Bob Fife… watch for him to get more scoops over the next little while. 😉 (if I were the PMO, I’d make sure I fed him the goods… he’s obviously more mature than many in the PPG)
Everyone needs to stop referring to the event they walked out of as a “press conference” or a “news conference”. This was a staged announcement by the PMO. Why does the PPG need to be there? There were still reporters there, and the PM refused to take questions after his announcement. Nothing about it could be called a “press conference” as the PM didn’t (and never intended to) take any questions from the media.
I don’t know why Tory supporters are so shocked that some members of the press walked out of an event that was a waste of their time, and that they weren’t going to be doing anything at anyway. I would think you’d be glad that there were that many fewer reporters there shouting questions the PM refused to answer.
Honestly, the PMO ought to just tape these things themselves and distribute the announcements to the media through fax and videotape. Why people think members of the PPG need to be there to watch the PM deliver a monologue is beyond me. Tories should be glad the PPG did what they did, as it meant there were merely “several” reporters shouting questions at the PM as he walked away refusing to acknowledge them, instead of dozens of reporters doing it.
Stephen Taylor has some info on this tit-for-tat. He makes a good point in response to a friend from the PPG who contends that the PMO is controlling access to the PM : “To that I responded that if the reporters were walking out on principle, the PPG has essentially become a political group and not an unbiased observer of events.”
Exactly.
Cheri,
I just don’t understand why Tories seem to think it’s a reporter’s ethical duty to sit there quietly and take notes at a Prime Ministerial announcement. Most journalists can presumably read. They could have just read the announcement from the PMO if their questions weren’t going to be addressed anyway.
I just can’t believe the PPG is being called “partisan” for refusing to be stage dressing for a PMO announcement at which all they were going to do anyway was shout questions the PM wouldn’t answer.
It’s like the PM is a professor who insists that everyone attend his class in person, despite the fact that he won’t take questions, won’t deviate at all from his lesson plan, and besides, the lecture is distributed by his assistant in its entirety before the class anyway. If I were a student in that class, I’d stage a walk-out too.
Lord, you are incorrect.
The Prime Minister would have answered questions in an orderly fashion, if the press had indicated their desire to ask questions by putting their names forward.
Not sure what all the conservative fuss is about on this one. It was actually a lot less dramatic than you are making it out to be.
It seems Harper’s communications team announced prior to the press conference that there would be no questions because the press gallery were not signing on to his new rules, i.e. Harper gets to pick and choose who gets to ask questions. So they figured, if there are to be no questions then there is no need for us to be there – which is true – and they walked out and watched it on TV, leaving a couple of reporters/photographers behind.
As for professionalism, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much coverage of the walkout in the real media as there is in conservative blog-land and among conservative pundits, and every article I have read about the Darfur announcement was only about the Darfur announcement. Seems like they are separating their battle for control over the media message and the message coming from the government in a pretty professional way, IMHO.
Obviously this is battle over control is not hurting Harper in the polls, but I expect it will eventually. When he has an important bit of news/message to get out in a hurry, especially during an election, he won’t be able to control the headlines as well and the media isn’t going to pander to him the way they did the last election. If it’s an important message – like reacting to the inevitable gaffe or corruption claim (and I say inevitable not as a partisan jab but because government is too big to be without mistakes) – he won’t be able to afford the time to go traipsing across the country giving very open press conferences to local media the way he did with the budget, for example.
Martin choked off the media by being bullish and they turned on him and the Liberals in the last election. The media is not the news but they can add wind to your sails, as they did for Harper in the last election, or you can find yourself sailing into a headwind.
I think the two sides will find some compromise at some point, in their respective self-interests.
Ted
Cerberus
I have found the Conservative government to be the most open in my memory when it comes to diseminating information to Canadians. If the Ottawa Press pack were the ONLY access to government information that might be a problem. But with the advent of the Internet, for one thing, we can all get PMO news releases in our own emails – at times five or six per day; we can access the Government of Canada newsroom at:
http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp and there are another 10 -12 news releases packed with information on a daily basis.
The regional media, radio talk shows, local tv news shows, etc. have ministers and the local MPs on consistently and they communicate clearly and without a bunch of bafflegab.
The only “bafflegab” these days seems to come from the Ottawa Press gallery bunch and their “anonymous sources” stories or “leaked drafts” or making “news” of some special interest group who got their funding cut or opposition “opinion”. None of this is “news” that affects Canadians lives.
The problem, as I see it, is that the Ottawa bunch think their job is to sabotage government decisions and turn the extremely difficult and challenging role of governing into a political game of gotcha. That is not news – that is tabloid journalism at its worst.
This is evidenced by the disrespect and outright malice they show for our elected officials and the leader of our country, chosen BY Canadians. To them our leaders are nothing more than players in a sordid soap opera of political gamesmanship.
Sarah, to your earlier post of biased reporting I would add the daycare debate. The press reported this as a choice between a national day care policy under the Liberal plan as opposed to $100 a month under the Conservative plan. This was Liberal spin and was simply not accurate. In fact, the Liberal plan created a limited number of daycare spaces that woulld only benefit those lucky enough to win the spots. The Conservative plan devoted significantly more funds and benefited everyone with young children. The press dumbed down the debate on this issue by presenting it the way they did.
As i understand it, the PPG is concerned that if a reporter wrote a “bad” story, this would result in him/her being ignored.
I wonder what the definition of “bad” is, lol.
Could it possibly be a story that is blatantly biased?
Anon:
You have gone from insinuating that the Harper governments key 5 point platform is (Naziist) propaganda (false or misleading information), to arguing about the effectiveness of the implementation of those policies.
That would seem to me that you discredit your own initial accusation by acknowledging the existence and effectiveness of said policies.
Either its propaganda or its not. You lefties love to have it both ways.
Lorraine:
How is this government the “most” open? All of those avenues of information dissemination are available and used by all governments, including the Martin and Chretien Liberal governments. So, if everyone is doing it, it doesn’t make him more open if he sticks only to that means of disseminating information.
But I have an honest question for conservatives here: what if Martin had done this outside of the campaign? what if Martin had said: “I’m here to tell you what I think about childcare/Gomery/defence spending/income trust taxation/Afghanistan/etc. but there will not be any questions. Please just reprint what I say.”
How many comments about “sheeple” and arrogance would we be hearing from the conservatives?
Personally, I think this is making both groups look horrible and citizens don’t vote for the media so what do they care how they look. Harper, on the other hand…
Ted
Cerebus
I challenge you all to read this entire piece.
Temper, temper, Mr. Prime Minister
Source: WFP – Winnipeg Free Press
May 24 2006
Page: A13
Section: Focus
Byline: Frances Russell
Frances Russell
CANADIANS are noticing something about their prime minister.
When Stephen Harper doesn’t get his way, he has temper tantrums
and hints broadly they’ll only stop when he has a majority and,
presumably, can do what he wants.
They are noticing something else about their prime minister.
He is a high-octane partisan who has no patience with negotiation,
no truck with compromise and no respect for views other than
his own — even when expressed by a majority of the elected
representatives of the people in Parliament.
If Harper isn’t careful, he will make himself the one real issue
of the next election campaign. Despite the latest opinion poll
showing a favourable rating for his party, he faces a steep
and rocky path to majority government. Previous pre-election
polls also showed him winning a majority, and they were all
wrong.
It’s no secret in Ottawa that Harper is keen, not just to defeat
the Liberals, but to destroy them. That ambition played a major
role in the decision to spring on the opposition parties, with
only two days’ notice, a quick parliamentary debate and vote
on Canada’s increasingly costly and controversial military role
in Afghanistan. The prime minister believes that he scored a
major victory because he not only demonstrated that the Liberal
party is split on the issue, but drew enough support from its
caucus to plunge Liberal hands into the coming bloodshed.
But many Canadians will see in that split a reflection of the
country’s own conflicted emotions about involvement in a guerrilla
war that could well become a bottomless pit of death and treasure.
And more than just a few Canadians were revolted by the overt
partisanship of the process and Harper’s deliberate use of a
war — and on the very day that another Canadian soldier died
— to play political games.
Then there was Harper’s fury when the opposition majority on
the Commons operations and estimates committee defeated his
candidate to chair the proposed public appointments commission.
The commission was part of the Conservatives’ accountability
package — a package, ironically, designed to return more power
to Parliament and reduce the historic partisanship surrounding
major government appointments.
Had Harper fulfilled the spirit of his opposition-era commitment
and remained true to his espoused aims to create greater transparency
and accountability, he would have consulted the opposition first,
especially given his minority situation.
Not only did Harper not consult, his candidate was a well-known
Reform/Alliance/Conservative fundraiser whose divisive views
are on the far right of the political spectrum and go well beyond
attributing violence and lawlessness to specific visible
minorities.
In a little-reported speech to the Fraser Institute last December,
Calgary oilman Gwyn Morgan took swipes at a wide swath of Canadian
icons and institutions, including former prime minister Pierre
Trudeau, the CBC, medicare, equalization, public schools, political
correctness, unions and even Canada’s equalization system, which
supports public services in poorer provinces.
The prime minister must have known Morgan’s nomination would
not be acceptable to Canada’s three opposition parties. In opposition,
he certainly would have taken umbrage at a nominee as far left
as Morgan is right.
But when the opposition rejected Morgan, he offered neither
consultation nor other names. Instead, he killed the commission
and said he will make his own execution of it a campaign
issue.
The opposition’s behaviour was “buffoonish,” an angry Harper
said: “We won’t be able to clean up the process in this minority
Parliament. We’ll obviously need a majority government to do
that in future. That’s obviously what we will be taking to the
people of Canada at the appropriate time.”
NDP MP Peggy Nash, who moved the motion against Morgan, said
“the committee did not reject the commission.” It simply did
not consider Morgan suitable because of what she called “deeply
offensive” remarks not “in sync with Canadian values.” The prime
minister, she said, was “taking his bat and ball and going
home.”
Knowing legislation necessary to repeal the registry would be
defeated by a majority vote in the House, the law and order
party simply proclaimed a year’s amnesty for those who refuse
to register their long guns. According to the Canadian Professional
Police Association, the last six or seven police officers to
die while on duty were killed with long guns, including the
four RCMP officers shot in Mayerthorpe, Alta., in the spring
of 2005. “That’s very sad,” said the association’s Tony
Cannavino.
In its haste to appease its core constituency, the party that
pledged to fix the democratic deficit placed itself above the
law, Parliament and the two out of three Canadians who want
the gun registry revamped, not abolished.
The Globe and Mail, normally sympathetic to the Conservatives,
took a round out of the prime minister in an editorial last
week. Noting that Harper’s setbacks are “life in a minority
government,” the newspaper tagged him for “wildly disproportionate
behaviour” and “peevishness.” It concluded:
“This inability to negotiate, to seek compromise, sends a disconcerting
signal about how far Mr. Harper might go if indeed he did win
a majority, once he had even more power to override dissent.
That is not a misgiving he should want to plant in the public’s
mind.”
Bobcaygeon,
I strongly disagree with the Winnipeg Free Press article you posted. In particular, the reference to Gwyn Morgan being unacceptable to the other 3 parties. The questioning and rejection of Mr. Morgan’s appointment was the most blatant example of partisan politics I have seen in some time. Accusing him of being a racist was simply outrageous. Finally we get a person with solid credentials to perform an important job (rather than some partisan hack)and he gets personally attacked by all 3 partisan parties. This was not a failure of Harper to consult but rather a failure of the other parties to rise above partisan politics. And we wonder why we can’t get qualified people to take on these important jobs.
LKO; I doubt Harper gives a rat’s ass if they attend or not. He is saying if you want to be here these are the rules. As pointed out by Sarah, Paul and others,the press is intent on painting the Conservatives, Harper in particular, as scary and worthy of their contempt. They look for any chance to make him look bad, even at the expense of his personal relationships with his kids.
There’s a new sherriff in town. Not bad, not scary, just different. N-O-T-A-L-I-B-E-R-A-L.
The rejection of Morgan may or may not have been right, Paul from Vancouver, but your claim that he was not a partisan hack are a bit over the top. He is very entrenched in and loyal to the Conservative Party, and to put him in charge of patronage appointments seemed like yet another Conservative flip flop on accountability.
But, of course, that’s off topic from the thread here of Harper trying to control the media.
Ted
Cerberus
Bobcaygeon – well thank you for posting a so called “news article” which is gob smacked with exactly the kind of personal attacks, malicious innuendo, hidden agenda warnings and OPINION we have all been claiming certain journalists feed to the public as NEWS.
This is NOT NEWS. This is opinion, based on bias and this reporter’s opinion is no more newsworthy than yours or mine. It is also absolutely loaded with political partisan posturing. Plus, it also proves the point that these “reporters” feed off each other – quoting each other’s published biased opinions as if they were somehow factual or worth repeating. I see Liberals “quoting” these opinion diatribes in the house even as if just because a journlist writes it it must be true.
Reminds me of being a female business owner – when a woman is assertive she is “bitchy”. When a man is assertive he is “a strong leader”….
Opinion is not news. Opinion has bastardized the news and the reporting from the Press Gallery. You have proven THAT is the reason they are damaging to the very fibre of this country.
Canadians are perfectly capable of having their own opinions based on unfiltered FACTS. But, don’t let this get in the way of your own “opinion” based on the reporter’s “opinion” which quotes another reporter’s “Opinion”. Sheesh.
Ted, in your previous post.
We need to clear this up. Harper did not refuse to answer questions.
The press refused to ask them