tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3635228450280813022024-03-06T22:34:21.715-05:00SpinDoctora weekly blog for all interested in professional communications issuesGordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-8738181989890165712011-04-19T08:23:00.003-04:002011-04-19T08:25:32.199-04:00Finally, health care getting attention<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">If there is one useful byproduct to come out of the current federal election campaign, it is the emergence of health care as a public issue.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Since the 2008 election, health care has been the proverbial elephant in the room among political issues.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Publicly-funded health care may be this country’s pride and joy. Politicians may be constantly paying limit lip service to it. But up until a couple of weeks ago, no political party has wanted to talk about it, even though the federal-provincial health accord expires in 2014.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Political parties like to look like they have solutions to the issues they talk about, or at least like they have a handle on them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is easy to understand why any politician would be reluctant to talk about something that is eating up half the revenues of <st1:state st="on">Ontario</st1:state> and <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Quebec</st1:place></st1:state> and likely will affect four more provinces in the same way by 2017.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">With one portfolio hoovering up tax dollars like that, there won’t be much money left over for education, infrastructure, law enforcement or, in the federal case, jet fighters and prisons.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Complicating things further is that aging baby boomers are the cause of this imbalance just as the post-war generation forced society to spend more than two decades building schools and universities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Generational politics is something no politician welcomes. Health care is a tough sound bite, no doubt about it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is why the March 22 federal budget said little about health care or how future generations will pay for it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now almost a month later, all political parties are vowing to preserve public health care – without saying how of course. But it’s a start.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Healthcare is something Canadians will have to stop taking for granted and start looking at some tough options. It is also something that will wind up dominating the remainder of this election campaign, the next one and possibly the election after that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-68705432932205748302011-04-12T08:23:00.001-04:002011-04-12T08:25:32.971-04:00If this doesn’t shake up campaign, nothing will<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Most of us have been thinking the TV debates tonight and Wednesday would be the potential game changer or tipping point in the current federal election campaign.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But it looks like that potential game changer came a day early with the leak of a draft report of the Auditor General on how the Harper government plowed $50 million into <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>dubious G8 infrastructure in Muskoka.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Actually there were two leaks of AG material on G8 spending, and the second one tells a lot about how the Harper government puts out a fire.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first leak, as most of us know, was leaked to the Canadian Press. It is a draft report, dated in January, that concludes Parliament may have been misled and federal law may have been broken before last June’s summit – not exactly what a government wants to read about itself during an election campaign.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So the Tories got busy doing what they do so well during controversy – changing the channel – with a counter leak of their own. They distributed to media a second draft report from the AG that was dated in February.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This draft is also critical of G8 spending but uses softer language. It does not say Parliament may have been misled, for example.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We will see over the next week whether the tactic is enough to diffuse the controversy. However, it was enough for the Tories to turn the tables and challenge the validity of the draft obtained by CP.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tonight’s debate will be a battle of narratives. The government will try to blur the impact of the AG’s findings with the softer version. The opposition will push an ongoing narrative of government misspending, as well an overall lack of integrity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In 18 days of campaigning, the Tories have been plagued with allegations of everything from using RCMP officers as bouncers at their rallies to hiding the real costs of F-35 jet fighters. But they still maintain a healthy lead in the polls.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Will this latest controversy be the tipping point the opposition has been waiting for? We likely won’t know until this weekend. But tonight’s debate likely will be incredible political drama just the same.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-54869958847002912772011-04-05T17:32:00.001-04:002011-04-05T17:34:08.135-04:00A few surprises in election’s 1st week<p class="MsoNormal">When the election writ dropped, most of us thought Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was dead man walking. What a surprise the first 10 days have been.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aside from an initial mistake in which Iggy waffled on the coalition question, the Liberal leader has turned in a very solid performance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He now looks comfortable in front of crowds. When the Liberals announced their platform over the weekend, their leader, speaking without notes, turned the event into a giant infomercial.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The latest Liberal Red Book of promises may have its critics. But the Liberals have managed to change the focus of the campaign away from the Tories’ scare stories about a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper, on the other hand, is an enigma. In the 2008 campaign, Harper managed to soften his image with all those regular-guy shots of him in a blue sweater vest. This campaign, the comfy sweater shots are gone and the Prime Minister is looking very cross and angry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">His harum-scarum talk of coalitions has turned out to be a bust. A growing number of Canadians now think a coalition government wouldn’t be such a bad thing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper foolishly challenged Iggy to a one-on-one debate from which, as the frontrunner, <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>he would not have benefited. After Iggy replied with a quick ``any time, anywhere,’’ Harper backed off. That prompted a couple of political cartoons depicting him as a chicken -- literally.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then were a series of embarrassing disclosures for which Harper was clearly unprepared, most notably the ongoing Bruce Carson saga. Despite five convictions of fraud, <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Carson</st1:city></st1:place> somehow got hired as the Prime Minister’s right hand man.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Furthermore since the weekend, there has been a litany of embarrassing incidents in which Tory organizers have kicked people with suspected Liberal connections out of rallies involving Harper. One of those frog marched out of a rally was a young woman who happened to have a photo of herself with Iggy on her Face book page.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So let’s get this straight. Someone attending a Conservative party rally is vetted very carefully. A person with a criminal record working in the Prime Minister’s Office? Not so much.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">All in all, Harper has looked like he is not enjoying this campaign. And his performance has been underwhelming.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yet, the Tories enjoyed continue to maintain a strong lead in the polls. If anything it may be increasing and Harper may be on his way to finally winning a majority government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">However, the latest three-day rolling poll reported by Nik Nanos has started to show that lead is shrinking. So the Tories’ campaign troubles may catch up with them yet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-61795443831224407372011-03-29T06:19:00.007-04:002011-03-29T06:27:17.826-04:00Frame Wars: The election so far<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Well so much for all those predictions that the Tories would be running on their economic record while the Opposition would be hammering away at the Harper government’s record on ethics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first weekend of the 2011 election has wrapped up and the word, coalition, is on everyone’s lips.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stephen Harper may be the first Prime Minister in Canadian history whose government has been found in contempt of Parliament. He may be the guy who came into office on the ethics ticket only to be branded as ethically challenged by the Opposition.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But without doubt he is a master at manipulating the public agenda and the media.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Within 24 hours of losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons, Harper managed to put his accusers on the defensive over a hypothetical possibility that should the Tories not gain a majority, the three Opposition parties will gang up and form an evil coalition to take control of Parliament and void the will of the people.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As proof, he cited the ill-fated 2008 coalition by the Opposition to seek the Governor General’s permission to form a coalition government after the 2008 election.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper claims the Liberals and NDP plan to take control of the country with the separatist Bloc Quebecois as a partner.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Actually the proposed coalition only consisted of the Liberals and New Democrats. The Bloc only agreed not to vote against the coalition for two years. But what is the truth in politics when you have a convincing narrative.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The feat is all the more remarkable when you consider that Harper himself tried to hatch such a coalition after the 2004 election in a letter with NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Prime Minister has been called everything from a hypocrite to a liar (by Duceppe). But still his narrative seems to be sticking with most of the voting public as the truth so far.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To borrow a term that came out of the 2004 <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> presidential election, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is being ``swift boated.’’ In that election, a group of American veterans of naval swift boats used in the Vietnam War came forward to claim Senator John Kerry, the Democrats’ candidate for president, and a decorated war hero, wasn’t the swift boat commander he was cracked up to be.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was a fraud, according to the swift boat veterans.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The allegations by the swift boat veterans, who were Republicans, turned out to be BS. But it didn’t matter. During the election campaign they framed Kerry as a fraud.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The swift boat episode is a classic case study in the process of issue framing in politics. Whoever can set the ``frame’’ around political issues usually can control the narrative of an election campaign and put the opponent on the defensive.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Liberals of course didn’t help themselves by being vulnerable when the election began on Saturday. They should have moved before Parliament was dissolved last Friday to rule out participation in a coalition. That would have been getting in front of the story.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Instead, Ignatieff stumbled when the question was to put to him at first and then issued a press release a day later to deny any intention of forming a coalition. Score one for Harper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Liberals could have released ads featuring Harper’s 2004 coalition letter. That way they could have planted the idea in voters’ minds that Harper is a hypocrite who will stop at nothing to gain power. Harper of course denies he had any intention of coalition in 2004.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now Harper has been able to frame or define Ignatieff as a usurper of democracy. Harper has also been able to demonize coalitions when they are in fact a legitimate part of parliamentary democracy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember, this country was founded because Sir John A. Macdonald was able to form a coalition with Sir George Étienne Cartier in support of Confederation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So far this election campaign has been looking a lot like Bambi versus Godzilla.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What’s interesting is why Harper is not running on his government’s record on the economy, or anything else. Why the fear frame, particularly when Harper has such a commanding lead in the polls?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps it is because Harper knows Canadians are still uneasy about him regardless of what they might think of Ignatieff. And the only way the Tories can win a majority is by stampeding a fearful electorate, or so he seems to think.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But Harper’s framing tactic could back fire yet. His former chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, has come forward to say, yes, his old boss was looking at possibly forming a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc to take control in 2004.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Score one for Bambi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-17322621164692952902011-03-22T08:25:00.001-04:002011-03-22T08:26:02.749-04:00Blog delayed this week<div align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; ">I am about to go into the budget lockup this morning. So this week's Spindoctor blog is delayed by a day or so.</span></div> <div align="left"><span ><span class="551362212-22032011">Gord McIntosh</span></span></div>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-9599567532351746462011-03-15T09:11:00.004-04:002011-03-15T10:03:17.504-04:00Branding Canada as Harperland<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Amid all the things going on in the world, it might seem like a small development. But a federal decision to direct civil servants to refer to their employer as the Harper Government rather than the Government of Canada seems to have hit a national nerve.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">One cartoonist has doctored the Canadian flag by replacing the centre Maple Leaf with the Great Man’s face. There have been alterations of the government’s familiar <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> logo to include you know who. There was even a cartoon about Elections Harper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">Even the Tories themselves are getting in on the fun by taking time out from bashing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to run feel-good TV ads of our prime minister working at his desk for a better tomorrow for you and I.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">It should be clear to anyone that a decision was made months ago at party headquarters <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>to treat Stephen Harper as the Conservatives’ prime asset whenever the election does come.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">And why not? The Tories have successfully defined and cast Ignatieff as a hapless political tourist who thought he would come home from Harvard to lead the country of his birth.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">Harper has done better in the polls than his own party. Most Canadians were convinced long ago that Harper is a capable political leader, whether they liked him or not.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">Just a few weeks ago when the Tories seemed to be on cruise control toward majority government, party insiders were probably congratulating themselves on a very successful branding strategy. <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s economy is better than most countries’ and why not position the prime minister to take the credit?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">The late Harold Macmillan was asked by a journalist when he was the prime minister of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Britain</st1:country-region></st1:place> what was the biggest challenge a government could face. His reply was ``Events, my dear boy. Events.’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">The prime minister’s handlers here in the People’s Republic of Harperland may now be wishing they had remembered Macmillan’s words.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">The Harper government has been hit with a tsunami of allegations of contempt of Parliament, doctoring document lying, cheating and interfering with the Access to Information law.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">The Opposition can’t believe its luck. The sudden reversal of fortune for the government (oops, that is the Harper Government) is taking attention away from the economy and casting it on ethics. That would be the government’s ethics and therefore Harper’s.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">The sudden decisions by two more prominent western ministers to retire from politics over the weekend will likely mean the attention on Harper’s governing style will be all the more intense.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">If ethics does become the ballot question in the next election, Harper’s style of government could cost him his long coveted majority.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt">Then again Canadians’ opinion of politics may be so low, that nothing in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> shocks them anymore. No doubt the opposition parties will be weighing this question before deciding whether to defeat the government next week.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:126.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-41516359777760056362011-03-08T08:09:00.002-05:002011-03-08T08:12:10.620-05:00How about making sense of political polls?<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">There is an interesting cat fight going on among political pollsters about the accuracy of their products.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last week the pollsters’ trade association, the Market Research and Intelligence Association,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>took out an ad in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hill Times</i>, the newspaper serving Parliament Hill, to assure politicians and the rest of us that polls by their members were in fact accurate and professionally prepared.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The ad didn’t get much notice. But it should have.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Think of what the reaction would have been if the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association had taken out an ad to assure us that cars made by its members were safe, or if say the Canadian Bankers Association publicly proclaimed that its members were competent enough to take care of depositors’ money.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">These days political polls are all over the map. One week the governing Conservatives have a 16-point lead over the Liberals. The following week, another poll says the lead is a much slimmer at eight points. Canadians are well within their rights to ask what gives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As a result of the wide variance, Allan Gregg, the Harris-Decima pollster, has publicly questioned the reliability of some of his competitors. As a result, the polling industry is furious with Gregg. Hence, last week’s ad.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This debate likely will continue. With growing privacy concerns, call display and growing reliance on mobile phones, polling by telephone is getting awfully challenging. Some pollsters have already switched to online polling.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Does the industry really know how accurate its polls are?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Gregg does have a point when he says we put too much faith in individual polls and that they are over-reported by the media.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is an old political adage that says polls may not matter. But trends in polls do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We should be probably following trends instead of reacting to one particular poll.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The problem is that the media treat their own exclusive polls as the gospel truth while ignoring those commissioned by their competitors.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have complained about this before. But it is worth repeating. The media are short changing the public in the way polls are reported by pretending their own polls are the last word.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the polls are all over the map, that is what should be reported. If the trend is in one party’s favour that too should be reported.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The media should also have people on staff who are able to critically analyse methodology.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We live in an increasingly numerate society. Audiences are ready for a more sophisticated look at political polls.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-49807061489168929332011-03-01T07:45:00.003-05:002011-03-01T07:50:44.755-05:00How Tories managed coverage of election charges<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Whether they realized it or not, Canadians witnessed an interesting case study last week of how governments can and do manage the media.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">On the evening of Feb. 24, an official of the Conservatives was busy phoning around the Parliamentary Press Gallery to advise that Elections Canada had charged four key members of the Tory campaign team in the 2006 election, plus the party itself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Those charged included Senators Doug Finley and Irving Gerstein, both key backroom players.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Why would someone tip off the media that their organization and colleagues are facing a whole raft of charges by a federal agency over expenses in the 2006 election?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">It was all about getting in front of the story. As any media strategist will tell you, it is better that the media carry your version of the bad news rather than someone else’s.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">And in this case, the tactic appears to have worked.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">In the first batch of stories that appeared overnight Thursday and into Friday, the charges were described as administrative rather than criminal. Most outlets quoted the Conservative party as saying this. But some didn’t bother with attribution.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">For the most part, the media tried to present their reporting as the result of working Parliament Hill sources, when in reality they were recipients of a gang leak. Or is that a mass spoon feeding?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Nor did anyone bother explaining there is really no such thing as an administrative charge.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Some of these charges carry a hefty fine of $25,000 and the possibility of one year in jail upon conviction.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">The following day Elections Canada and the public prosecutor’s office released the actual charges and began setting the record straight. And the media dutifully reported what they said. They also reported the outraged reaction of the Opposition parties.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">However, by that time the story was already growing stale as old news.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Since Parliament was off last week, the Tories had a huge advantage in getting its version of the facts planted in most people’s memories. By Monday, there was scant reference to the election charges in the media. Case closed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">In most people’s minds this is the latest development in a longstanding dispute between the Tories and Elections Canada. After all, the Federal Court had ruled in the Tories’ favour last year about the party’s financial methods in the 2006 election. The ruling is under appeal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Most people likely believe Elections Canada is looking for payback. However, there are elements of this story that has been lost in the clamour.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">The charges were not actually laid by Elections Canada. They were laid by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which had to be convinced there was a reasonable chance of conviction. What prompted federal prosecutors to proceed now?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Also, these charges were laid on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Why no news release by Elections Canada or the Public Prosecutor Office? Authorities don’t usually leave the chore of announcing prosecutions up to those facing prosecution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Let’s hope there are journalists enterprising enough to investigate those questions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Nobody can blame a political party for trying to play its ace as best it can in the court of public opinion. But we can blame the media for allowing themselves to be played.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:18.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-91257302598449182502011-02-22T09:05:00.001-05:002011-02-22T09:07:57.009-05:00Why didn’t Oda tell the truth in the 1st place?<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Here’s a news flash that provides questions instead of answers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Over the weekend, Conservative MPs were issued talking points that say Bev Oda was out of the country when her office received a report from the Canadian International Development Agency recommending approval of $7 million in funding for Kairos, the international aid group.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So the Minister of International Co-operation ordered her office staff to insert the word ``not’’ in front of ``approve’’ in the final line of the report and use her signature stamp. At least this is the government’s latest version of what happened in Oda’s run-in with parliamentary procedure.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Had the minister simply given <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">that </i>explanation to a Commons committee in December, would she now be in danger of becoming the first cabinet minister in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament? Not.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Instead, she has had several stories. First she tried to claim she didn’t know how a document bearing her signature came to be altered. Then she claimed Kairos didn’t fit the aims of CIDA when senior staff of the agency under her charge were recommending approval.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And most laughably, Oda claimed funding was denied after ``due diligence’’ by CIDA.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Oda has already been rebuked by the Commons Speaker over this affair. Telling fibs in the House of Commons is a line that is not supposed to be crossed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is because truthful information is the oxygen that feeds parliamentary democracy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Even if Oda somehow remains a member of cabinet when this nasty affair finally ends, her political career is effectively over. No one is going to take seriously a disgraced minister who reportedly lied to a parliamentary committee and tried to pin her own deeds on civil servants reporting to her.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why didn’t the minister simply tell the truth in the first place since she was within her rights to reject a recommendation from the civil service?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Both she and the government obviously didn’t expect the document to surface publicly, which it did thanks to an Access to Information request. But they should have since the rules of disclosure are pretty clear.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In fairness, this is not the first government to think it owns the truth. But considering this government got itself elected by promising increased accountability, the whole affair is likely to leave a stench.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Maybe this is a case of some kind of hidden death wish because every time this government is within sight of majority rule, it starts shooting at its own feet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But more likely, this is a sign that official <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> needs a reminder that truth isn’t just an inconvenience to be overcome.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We may get that reminder before this affair is over.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-55632919920665413342011-02-15T08:22:00.004-05:002011-02-15T08:28:05.081-05:00VANOC used aggressive media tactics<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">By now most of us have an opinion whether John Furlong should have done more to prevent a fatal accident on the luge track at last year’s Vancouver Olympics. There isn’t much point in passing judgment here on the man who was head of the Vancouver Organizing Committee.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But there is a sidebar issue on VANOC’s media relations tactics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The CBC’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fifth Estate </i>obtained a sensitive e-mail from the B.C. Coroner’s Office through the province’s Freedom of Information law. In the e-mail, Furlong alerted colleagues that VANOC had received a letter in which the track’s designer expressed concern about speeds being recorded on it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This concern was made and passed on to VANOC officials almost a year before a young Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, died instantly after hitting a metal pole at 145 km/h on the track.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Furlong passed on the designer’s concerns in an e-mail to senior VANOC officials, including legal counsel, and said the letter was ``a warning that the track is, in their view, too fast and someone could get badly hurt.’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He added: ``I think the case could be made we were warned and did nothing.’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal">No one disclosed this e-mail after the tragedy. In fact, Furlong said after the crash there were no safety concerns raised about the track.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So how did Furlong’s media adviser handle this?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Renee Smith-Valade, VANOC’s former vice-president of communications, managed to get a hold copies of the documents in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fifth Estate’s </i>possession, including the Furlong e-mail. She then released the material before the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fifth Estate </i>could go to air to other media, namely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">CTV</i>, the host broadcaster of the Olympics, and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Globe and Mail</i>, a corporate cousin. Neither disclosed how they obtained the material.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt">It was a pre-emptive move designed to rob the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fifth Estate </i>of its scoop and therefore deaden the impact. Or as Smith-Valade put it, it was a manoeuvre to present ``a more balanced view and protect VANOC’s reputation.’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt">Smith-Valade was likely hoping the turmoil in the <st1:place st="on">Middle East</st1:place> would distract public attention away from the issue. Did the tactic work?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt">Reports by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fifth Estate</i> have brought down cabinet ministers. Smith-Valade was trying to dilute the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Fifth Estate’s </i>impact by making the issue old news by the time its program aired, which wasn’t until Feb. 11.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt">But it is hard to say whether the move worked. VANOC media tactics became a story themselves. As a result, other media such as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Vancouver Sun</i> and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Toronto Star</i> weighed in with harsh commentary about Furlong and Smith-Valade’s tactic.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt 162.0pt">In fact, the tactic might have the opposite effect that what was intended.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops:117.0pt 162.0pt">The best media relations tactic probably would have been to disclose the safety concerns a year ago and take the lumps then. Or better still, ensure that the track was fully safe in the first place.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-86113750021781071212011-02-08T07:23:00.002-05:002011-02-08T07:26:17.766-05:00CRTC chairman: Nobody deserves undermining by tweet<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Thanks to Twitter and our tweeting Industry Minister, we can all add CRTC chairmanship to the list of least desirable jobs in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> along with chief fundraiser for the Liberal party, coach of the Ottawa Senators or CFL commissioner.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> has every legal right to take issue with any decision by the CRTC and over-ride it through cabinet order.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Many Canadians would applaud Industry Minister Tony Clement for standing ready to overturn a CRTC decision to implement usage-based billing for internet customers.</p><p class="MsoNormal">A case can be made for usage-based billing now that consumers are downloading feature-length movies from the internet. But a case can just as easily be made not to suddenly saddle people with huge cost increases without warning. There was no surprise the CRTC was facing a public backlash.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But the way Clement chose to tell the CRTC – over Twitter – showed a lack of class. The head of a federal regulatory agency deserves something more than 140 characters over Twitter. So do Canadians.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Clement made it plain that if the CRTC didn’t change its position on usage-based billing, cabinet would do it for them. But he also twisted the knife a little further by tweeting that he was ``looking forward’’ to remarks by CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein before a Commons committee the following day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not only was Clement publicly undermining the commission, he was doing some old fashioned bullying – something von Finckenstein didn’t deserve.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After all the CRTC was only following a written directive by Clement’s predecessor, Maxime Bernier. Bernier, the first industry minister when the Conservatives assumed office in 2006, ordered the CRTC to put market forces above the public interest.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The CRTC was just following government policy when it approved usage-based billing. Then Clement figured out which way the wind was blowing and got on Twitter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Canadians shouldn’t have to guess what the government is going to do in the future – or what the minister is going to tweet. The government should take the trouble to formally spell out policy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ironically, the Federal Court dealt Clement a stinging rebuke a day after the minister pushed around the CRTC. The court ruled a 2009 cabinet order that allowed Globalive to launch its Wind Mobile wireless service was in contravention of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s limits on foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The CRTC had originally ruled Globalive was an Egyptian-controlled company. The government ruled Globalive was Canadian controlled without bothering to clarify or change existing law.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now it is the government’s turn to be pushed around – this time by the courts. Courts don’t tweet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-30298664652360587822011-02-01T08:17:00.006-05:002011-02-01T08:39:08.480-05:00Election if necessary, but not necessarily an election<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Here we go again. We’re in the midst of more excitement about a pending election nobody claims to want.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">All party leaders have been fanning out in what they insist is not campaigning. The two major parties are busy blasting each other with attack ads. And the media are playing their part by acting like fight promoters.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yup. It sure looks like an election is imminent. Or maybe not.</p><p class="MsoNormal">We are witnessing what is fast becoming a standard part of minority government – the pre-campaign. Pre-campaigns are good for market-testing potential ballot questions. Or, in the event of near-deadlock in the polls, a pre-campaign is good for testing for cracks in the other guy’s support.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Both of these reasons are factors in this current pre-campaign.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The polls haven’t changed much since the 2008 election. As they stand now, an election would produce a Parliament not terribly different from the current standings.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Should there be a shift in the Conservatives’ favour during the pre-campaign, we can be sure the governing party will find a way to engineer an election, regardless of what the Prime Minister is saying.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It will not be so easy for the Liberals to cash in on a shift in their favour, or signs of one pending. Historically, any surge in Liberal support has been at the expense of the NDP.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is a very real possibility the New Democrats could wind up propping up the government in the budget vote this spring.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Still it might be useful for the Liberals to force a confidence vote in which the NDP has to bail out the Tories. The Liberals may also need the NDP to back up the government if their strategy backfires. Michael Ignatieff’s ultimatum that the March budget contain a rollback of phased-in cuts to business taxes or the Liberals will vote against it doesn’t have much wiggle room.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As for possible ballot questions, the pre-campaign will be risky for Liberals and Conservatives. The two majors seem to have both decided to lock horns over tax cuts for business – at least for now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After two years in the current mandate, the Tories really don’t have much to put in the store window.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The stimulus plan will be past tense by the time voters do head to the polls. The Tories at first thought they would be able to count on bragging rights for replacing the number of jobs lost during the recession.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">However, Statistics Canada has played spoiler by restating post-recession employment creation numbers. As a result, the government is 30,000 jobs short of making that claim.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Canadians are less than enthralled over the F-35 purchase. The Tories’ fear mongering over an evil coalition of Opposition parties hasn’t produced the results they had been seeking. The law and order initiatives are at saturation point. The character assassination ads may be wearing thin. And there has been nothing but damage control in foreign affairs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So the rebranding of continued tax cuts for business as a job creation initiative might turn out to be a good move for the Tories as long as they are able to define the debate. After all, the Liberals did support the phased-in tax cuts for business in 2007. Business taxes now stand at 16 per cent. The Tories want to move them down one more percentage point in 2012 to give <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> the lowest business taxes in the G7.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As for the Liberals, the science of economics is on their side. Cutting taxes in a deficit situation is really spending money you don’t have. If the Liberals are able to frame business tax cuts as a deficit enlarger, the Tories have a problem.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">They can also argue low business taxes alone don’t automatically create jobs. Otherwise <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region></st1:place>, with business taxes of 12.5 per cent, would have an abundance of new jobs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Liberals can truthfully say they supported tax cuts when there was a budget surplus. But that detail could easily be lost in all the noise made by the Tory spin machine.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Still, the Tories don’t feel comfortable enough to spell out exactly how they will slay the deficit by the promised 2015. So they are vulnerable on the deficit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">About the last thing the Conservatives can be accused of is being fiscal conservatives. The Tory cheque writers have been busier than the spin machine.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We are about to witness a spectacular issue framing war between the major parties.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-56206505268457326522011-01-25T07:50:00.005-05:002011-01-25T09:26:03.798-05:00Harper after 5 years in power<p class="MsoNormal">What’s interesting about all the coverage of the fifth anniversary of Conservative rule is how little attention has been focused on the party.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Instead the stories have been about Stephen Harper, the man who became Prime Minister after leading the merger of the old <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Alliance</st1:city></st1:place> and Progressive Conservative parties.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Mention of the party Harper happens to lead is only incidental.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When you compare what the Conservatives under Harper in five years of minority government have achieved in tangible accomplishments with the minority under Liberal Lester Pearson of 1963-1968, resemblance is very slight.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pearson’s government gave the country a new flag, a national health care system, the Canada Pension Plan, the foundation of a bilingual civil service, social insurance numbers and so on.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper’s government has given us the Federal Accountability Act, which tightened up legislation governing lobbyists (with loopholes) but also rolled back provisions of the Access to Information Act. His government also cut the GST by two percentage points and introduced a ton of law and order legislation despite <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s declining crime rate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper’s government also introduced fixed election terms in 2007 – a law it disregarded a little over a year later.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And yes he made the dubious decision of eliminating the mandatory long form census while failing – at least so far – to get rid of the long gun registry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Harper government’s legislative record looks pretty slim compared to most governments.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But that is not why we are so fixated with our Leader.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is no question; politics in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> has changed under Harper. Historians will probably look at Canadian politics in terms of before and after Stephen Harper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The authority of Parliament, which the textbooks tell us is supreme to the executive, has been diminished under Harper. Parliamentary committees have been openly undermined under Harper. Public servants who dare to be watchdogs instead of lapdogs are very publicly disposed of by Harper’s government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yet Canadian media seem to devote most of their scrutiny to the weaknesses of the Leader of the Opposition as opposed to the tactics of the man who leads our government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Time was when Canadian Conservatives fancied themselves as rugged individualists who weren’t afraid to speak their minds. Now dissent, at least publicly, is unheard of in the Conservative caucus.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Recently, Toronto Star writer Linda Diebel wrote about the climate of fear that is consuming <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> under Harper. That story was no exaggeration.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When Harper campaigned in the 2006 election, he promised a new era of accountability and transparency. That message clearly resonated with most voters.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once elected Harper began rolling back the very things he promised to increase. Secrecy became the new normal. Yet the public for the most part has accepted that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There must be something in human nature that submits to a forceful, alpha-dog of a leader much like Quebec allowed Maurice Duplessis to be ``Le Chef’’ for so long.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Harper may not be able to win a majority in the next election. But he will be able to rule like he had one as long as he continues to have a strong hold on the national psyche.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we know from history, once Duplessis was gone, the party he founded, the Union Nationale, began a long spiral to oblivion. Will the same thing happen once Harper is gone?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-32787870466400816242011-01-18T08:14:00.003-05:002011-01-18T08:17:40.228-05:00Censorship for nothing, futility for free<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Pop music stations in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> aren’t known for daring programming. But some of them might be on to an important principle by defying a censorship order.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As any Canadian reasonably conscious of popular culture knows, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has ordered radio stations across the country not to play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Money for Nothing, </i>a big hit in 1985 by Dire Straits, without editing out a certain word that is insulting to gays. The order was made in a response to a complaint from a radio listener in <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Newfoundland</st1:state></st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But a growing number of stations across the country are defying the order with support of their listeners.</p><p class="MsoNormal">There is no point in repeating this word. We all know what it is. But most of would agree it is insulting, much like the N-word is to blacks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But should the F-word be stripped out of a classic rock song about a bigoted and alienated guy working in an appliance store who thinks musicians don’t have to work for a living? The same question has been applied to whether the N-word should be stripped out of Mark Twain’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Huckleberry Finn.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I would argue the answer in both cases should be no.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Twain’s book was controversial the moment it was published because of its scathing look at racism and entrenched bigotry in an era when racial slurs were common vocabulary. This is probably why it was first published in <st1:country-region st="on">Britain</st1:country-region> in 1884 instead of Twain’s native <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Even though Twain was describing a slavery-based southern society that no longer existed 20 years after the Civil War, it can be easily argued the book was an important step in eventually ridding the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> of institutionalized racism. To fully understand that era it is important to understand the vernacular of the period.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Money for Nothing </i>was actually written by lead guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler while he was in an appliance store in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>. There was a guy delivering boxes while MTV was blaring on a wall of television sets. Knopfler says he used the guy’s actual words like ``that ain’t working’’ as he composed the lyrics on a piece of paper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The song is a narrative on working class alienation in the 1980s and the vernacular of the time – a time when the F-word at issue was common in everyday conversation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">``The societal values at issue a quarter-century later have shifted and the broadcast of the song in 2010 must reflect those values, rather than those of 1985," the Broadcast Council said in its ruling. That amounts to retroactive censorship.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the Broadcast Council wanted to, it could find hundreds of recorded songs with the potential to offend. There are songs on the airwaves today that glorify violence, advocate law breaking and use sexist language.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But the council’s policy is not to act unless there is a complaint. That means its stewardship of the airwaves is uneven at best.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Public taste shouldn’t be arbitrated on the basis of one complaint. Nor should the past be purged to suit political correctness today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-34705728077230194442011-01-10T21:03:00.004-05:002011-01-11T06:45:18.181-05:00Arizona tragedy a political game changer<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">It is risky to make political predictions at the best of times. So it is too early to say if the tragedy in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Tucson</st1:place></st1:city> over the weekend will end Sarah Palin’s political ambitions, or anyone else’s for that matter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But it is probably safe to say the attempted assassination of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the murder of six others on Saturday will force Americans to take a long look at what has happened to their political culture.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The media of course didn’t wait long to blame right wingers – Palin in particular – for using such inflammatory rhetoric against liberals and Democrats that a disturbed young man would be incited to shoot the Congresswoman in the head and kill six others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">They were especially hard on Palin because her political action committee published a map last year with the cross hairs of a rifle marking the Congressional districts of 20 Democrats, including that of Giffords. Palin also once uttered the words to supporters, ``Don’t retreat. Reload.’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Palin likely lent some credence to those allegations by her reaction on Monday. She sent one of her aides out to deny the map had anything to do with the shootings rather than do it herself. She also e-mailed her sorrow for the shootings to right-wing commentator Glenn Beck on Fox News.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Her seclusion will be interpreted by most people as cowardice. Indeed, her reaction could cost her more political capital than the map.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Beck, meantime, tried to imply Palin was in danger of being assassinated by liberals. He also accused the left of using a terrible tragedy to score cheap political points. (Actually, Beck’s behavior on Fox was cheap.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But even though both right wingers acted like they were guilty as hell, it is important to remember both sides are responsible for the current political climate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“If they bring a <em><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">knife</span></em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> </b>to the fight, we bring a <em><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">gun</span>.</em>”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Barak Obama used those words to supporters in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Philadelphia</st1:city></st1:place> in 2008.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Americans need to clean up their political debate by all sides just as they need to inject some sanity into their gun laws. Canadians need to ensure politics here doesn’t become more Americanized than it already has.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-43971656604481968882010-12-21T07:30:00.001-05:002010-12-21T07:33:23.519-05:00Leaks are part of democracy just like politicians<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Let’s face it, leaks have become as much a part of democracy as those we elect to represent us in legislatures.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place>, the biggest leaker of information these days is not WikiLeaks but the Harper government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Since this government is so obsessed with message control, the leak has become its weapon of choice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A case in point is the negotiations now going on between <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> and Washington about a common Canada-U.S. perimeter at all entry points into the two countries. Existence of these negotiations was leaked to several media outlets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The government has not denied there are negotiations. Nor has it really confirmed their existence. All it will say is that there is no agreement between the two countries, leaving us to infer there really are negotiations. And of course the Feds have not denied being involved in the leak.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why leak rather than formally announce existence of negotiations in Parliament? A formal announcement means you will be held accountable for what you say or promise. A leak that is fuzzy on details means you can say publicly whatever you want later.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the negotiations don’t go anywhere, you can say they were only exploratory talks, rather than admit failure.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">You can also use the leak to test public reaction. This is called trial ballooning in politics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If people hate the idea of negotiations with the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>, the government can simply say a leaked report was simply a draft and not policy. Or it can say the media reports were exaggerated.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The media of course love leaks as much as government because they are easier to report than detailed public announcements. They also add an air of mystery and suspense to their coverage. Journalists after all are in the infotainment business.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And of course we prefer to read about leaks instead of formal government announcements because they are less stuffy and free of the weasel words that public officials love so much.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The government and media of course know that we know where this leak came from. And we know that they know that we know. But as long as leaks are so useful to democracy, we can all pretend that we don’t know because leaks serve an important function.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">I will be taking two weeks off from this blog for the <st1:place st="on">Holiday</st1:place> season. I wish all of you a safe and happy <st1:place st="on">Holiday</st1:place> season.</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><o:p> </o:p></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-74707884115701472782010-12-14T09:20:00.003-05:002010-12-14T09:24:30.749-05:00Why would Ford allow himself to be upstaged?<p class="MsoNormal">Normally, municipal politics barely attracts local interest. And the swearing in ceremony for a new mayor would warrant as much national attention as a Rotary Club picnic.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But last week’s swearing in of Rob Ford as the new <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city> mayor was a national story.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">First, His Worship had the chain of office placed around his neck by someone who looked like a cartoon character – Don Cherry. Then Cherry, dressed in pink, launched into a diatribe against bicycle-riding, elitist pinkos.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We really don’t know much about what Ford said at the ceremony, except that he declared the war against the car to be over.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As for Mr. Ford’s vision for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>, we know that the mayor wants to halt the gravy train. He doesn’t much like streetcars or anything resembling them. Beyond that, there have been a few hints about outsourcing city services to private contractors and little else.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This peek-a-boo approach in which you let others upstage you seems to be part of a pattern with Ford.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Normally, a mayor’s chief of staff is next to invisible to the public. But Ford’s chief of staff, Nick Kouvalis, has become a celebrity after bragging publicly last month how his campaign team tricked John Tory into staying out of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place> mayor’s race.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We can expect Kouvalis to remain the target of intense media scrutiny for as long as he is chief of staff.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps, the strategy is to allow those around you to develop a notoriety to distract the voters from measuring your own performance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There also appears to be a deliberate attempt by the Ford administration to start a class war in which someone not using a car in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city> is being cast as elitist.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place> is not the only city where the class warfare card is being played. There is an excellent article in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Tyee</i> this week by Yves Engler that documents how the pro-car interests are claiming to be standing up for the little guy in several cities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Practitioners of right-wing populism usually have a designated public bad guy to keep the voters interested and motivated about their political brand.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The former Harris government of <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Ontario</st1:state></st1:place> did this many times by targeting welfare cheats, union bosses and teachers. The Harper government has done this with Russian aircraft to justify the expensive stealth fighters it wants to buy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ford wants the suburbs, where his support lies, to be blaming the downtown crowd for their high taxes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It will be interesting to see if Ford can make this type of politics work at the municipal level. Expect <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place> city council to be getting a lot of national attention while Ford is mayor.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-1247663825216515072010-12-07T09:51:00.004-05:002010-12-07T09:54:57.382-05:00Keeping an eye on Big Brother<p class="MsoNormal">For most of the past century, society has grown used to the idea of Big Brother watching us all.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Big Brother still does of course. But increasingly, thanks to Access to Information laws, advances in technology and changed attitudes, we have been keeping an eye on Big Brother.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">WikiLeaks has provided us all with a reminder of that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is interesting about the latest document dump by WikiLeaks is how governments, business and other institutions seem to be resigned to a new age of disclosure.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember all the predictions a few weeks ago about international upheaval because thousands of pages of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> diplomatic cables were about to appear on the WikiLeaks site.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well those documents are now out in the public realm and the international world seems to be stumbling along as well as it usually does. In fact, the very politicians who predicted chaos now seem to be dismissing WikiLeaks as a nuisance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sure, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be in a heap of legal trouble. The site may wind up being shut down, at least temporarily. But there will likely be someone else ready to step in with a replacement.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">With a few exceptions, most of the material being disclosed on WikiLeaks can be classified as little more than gossip. And as long as human nature is what it is, there will be a demand.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Diplomats will go on speaking in euphemisms, extending insincere courtesies, and nudging and winking at each other. Governments will go on making deals with each other. And the world will remain as unstable tomorrow as it was before WikiLeaks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some of the web sites devoted to the public relations industry are now filled with chatter about adequate crisis planning just in case WikiLeaks blabs sensitive corporate secrets. No doubt some enterprising PR firms are already marketing Wikileaks damage control packages.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Bank of America is rumoured to be putting together a special WikiLeaks SWAT team because the bank believes the web site has some of its internal documents.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What’s interesting is how much Wikileaks is altering the media landscape so quickly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A case in point is <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s spy agency, CSIS. For several years, CSIS directors past and present have been saying that the courts are too inflexible in dealing with terrorism threats. But CSIS could never get much traction in the media.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to disclosure by WikiLeaks of remarks by former CSIS director Jim Judd, the agency’s longstanding lament finally appeared on front pages across the country last week. A lot of government spindoctors will be assuming a sure way of getting something in the media is to leak it to WikiLeaks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Prime Minister’s Office seems to have developed a WikiLeaks play of its own.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we know, William Crosbie, <st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>’s ambassador to <st1:country-region st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region>, offered his resignation after he discovered the leaked <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> diplomatic cables quoted him as saying very unflattering things about Afghan President Hamid Karzai.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We know he offered to quit because his resignation offer was leaked to the Globe and Mail and National Post.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The RCMP is investigating this leak. But they probably don’t have to look too far for the leaker because the PMO had the most to gain.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Governments like to appear to be in front of a developing story instead of struggling to catch up.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The strategic leak is a time-honoured tool of all governments. Both the strategic government leak and now web sites like WikiLeaks will be around for a long time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-53955476739075574972010-11-30T08:20:00.001-05:002010-11-30T08:24:12.650-05:00Why would cops knowingly assault Stacy on camera?<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">By now we all have been appalled by the video of Ottawa police assaulting Stacy Bonds at the station – Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Police Chief Vern White, everybody. This is universal condemnation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This one short video seems to have had more impact on public officials than the hundreds of hours of police video we have seen from the G20 Summit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yet there is one troubling question. Why would five officers, who would have known they were on video monitor, rough up a 125-pound woman like that without the slightest sign of inhibition? What would make them think that was acceptable behavior inside a police station?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> police chief sounds like a sincere man and we can probably take him at his word that he will get to the bottom of what happened. And he probably does believe that only a minority of police are excessively violent. </p><p class="MsoNormal">But there appears to be widespread problem with police culture in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> and elsewhere.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We all have heard unsubstantiated stories of police brutality without any tangible evidence. The brutal behaviour of the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ottawa</st1:place></st1:city> police would suggest at least some of them might be true.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now that there are cameras everywhere from store monitors to cell phone cameras, we may be finding out some ugly truths about Canadian law enforcement.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Indeed there may be a serious disconnect between police and the society they are supposed to serve.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps this is just part of wider decline in public morality by our officials everywhere, which might explain the mindlessly cruel treatment of military veterans by the federal government, or the recent behaviour of a <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place> prosecutor who caused a mistrial by making faces at the jury.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Whatever the answer, the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ottawa</st1:place></st1:city> police chief could make a good start in restoring public confidence in his police force by embracing the gracious remarks of Bonds in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen over the weekend.</p> <p><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">“People do need to know that police do abuse their power, and people need to speak out. But there are a lot of great cops out there, too, and people need to know that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">These are the words of a wise woman.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-47019033858048241652010-11-23T08:14:00.002-05:002010-11-23T08:18:09.009-05:00Peter MacKay, the sequel<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Normally, wearing a baseball cap that mocks your employer anywhere near the office would be considered a dumb career move. And being widely quoted in the media as critical of your employer’s policy would be considered suicide – especially when your boss is Stephen Harper.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But maybe Peter MacKay, <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s defence minister (for now), is being dumb like a fox.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the past week, it has been MacKay’s turn to dole out the humiliation after being very publicly cut out of the loop over the extended mission in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place> the previous week.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">First MacKay sported a red baseball cap that said ``Fly Emirates’’ during a fire drill on Parliament Hill. Then he told a couple of fellow Tories in the presence of a radio reporter that continued refusal to allow flights to and from the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">United Arab Emirates</st1:place></st1:country-region> beyond a couple of times a week was unwise.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Subsequently, MacKay told the media at large that diplomatic relations with the Emirates have been set back 10 years by <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place>’s intransigence on the landing rights.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">To finish off the week. MacKay joined the Prime Minister on a flight to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Lisbon</st1:city></st1:place> for the NATO Summit. The atmosphere on the plane might have been a bit frigid.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So what was MacKay up to?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Most ministers publicly breaking ranks like that would be on the back benches by now. But MacKay is in a unique position as the last leader of the Progressive Conservatives before the merger with the <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Alliance</st1:city></st1:place> that formed the current Conservative party.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aside from the fact that Harper owes MacKay for going along with the merger, the Prime Minister knows that bouncing his defence minister from cabinet will set off speculation about a rift in the party.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is pretty obvious the Conservatives would like to have a spring election after the 2011 budget even though the most rabid Harperites don’t expect to win a majority. An election before economic growth can slow down any more simply makes strategic sense.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Plans for a spring election would have to be shelved if speculation about an internal rift gets out of hand. So MacKay likely is the minister with the most job security at least until the next cabinet shuffle.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">MacKay likely will make a career change in the New Year. Perhaps he will join Jim Prentice in self-imposed exile <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Bay Street</st1:address></st1:street> and wait for his party’s leadership to come open.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>After almost five years of minority government, a Conservative leadership race is a growing likelihood. After all this amalgamated party never did get around to a founding policy convention after its factions – the Red Tories versus the Neo Cons – spent years disliking each other.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Conservatives likely will win the next election. But a victory with fewer seats would almost certainly bring out the knives for their leader.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, Prentice and MacKay and who knows who else may be watching and waiting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-1096479387949987142010-11-17T08:44:00.003-05:002010-11-17T08:48:07.870-05:00The decline of a political superstar<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">There is nothing like someone being sent in to do your job to focus your thinking on a career change. Just ask Peter MacKay.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But maybe the moderates in his party, the so-called ``Red Tories’’ should be thinking about their own futures.</p><p class="MsoNormal">MacKay is being publicly humiliated. Not once, not twice, but repeatedly. The defence minister has even had to stay silent while Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister’s communications director, spoke to the media about <st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>’s extended mission in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When the government got around to providing details about the extended mission on Tuesday, there was MacKay in the background with Bev Oda, the very junior minister of international aid, while Cannon ran the news conference.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As is the custom at multi-ministered news conferences in Ottawa, MacKay was allowed to provide a couple of sound bites, lest we all think he was just there as a prop. But his appearance will do nothing to stop the public speculation on what sparked one of the more spectacular falls from grace in federal politics.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Most of that speculation has centred on personal disagreements with Stephen Harper. Your guess is as good as mine. But there may be reasons beyond personal hard feelings.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When the former <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Alliance</st1:city></st1:place> and Progressive Conservative parties merged in 2003 to form the present Conservative party, the focus was on how to break a 21-year Liberal dynasty rather than how to merge two different political cultures.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In fact those behind the rushed merger never did get around to a founding policy convention. Nor was there much time for public breaking of bread by former foes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Over the years, the former PCs’ influence has been diminishing to the point where the merger has clearly become a takeover. With Jim Prentice now gone, MacKay is about the last trace of the PCs in cabinet. And if Heritage Minister James Moore winds up seeking the leadership of the B.C. Liberals to replace Gordon Campbell, there won’t be many moderates left either.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So while MacKay may continue to deny he is leaving, he likely will be gone in the New Year. (Remember, he hasn’t actually denied speaking with a <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place> law firm.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Nothing personal, Peter. It’s just business.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-31816169881745369662010-11-09T07:48:00.001-05:002010-11-09T07:50:19.195-05:00Ways to shut people up: Firing isn’t one of them<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">If it hasn’t happened already, somebody in the Prime Minister’s Office must be asking ``why did we fire Pat Stogran?’’</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stogran will be remembered as the veterans’ ombudsman who had the audacity to speak up early and often on behalf of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s war veterans – so much so that the government fired him. His last day on the job is Wednesday and his successor takes over on Thursday, Remembrance Day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How is that for getting the bum’s rush out the door?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stogran’s difficulties with his employer are reminiscent of the late Dr. Morton Shulman’s tenure as chief <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Ontario</st1:state></st1:place> coroner in the 1960s. The government of Ontario Premier John Robarts thought it was making a routine patronage appointment. But Shulman took the job seriously.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So after six years, the Robarts government fired Shulman for being a pain in the ass. But Shulman became an even bigger pain in the ass after he was fired. It prompted Robarts to remark his biggest mistake was hiring Shulman. His second biggest was firing Shulman.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The papers are full of stories about veterans and how they are being shortchanged and shafted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Even the Minister of Veterans Affairs, Jean Pierre Blackburn, has conceded his own department has been heartless.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Disabled vets are protesting on Parliament Hill. Strogran says he is prepared to launch a class action law suit on behalf of veterans everywhere.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As they say in the PMO, the optics of Pat Stogran’s appointment and firing really suck. You wouldn’t want to be the person who recommended Stogran to the Prime Minister’s appointment office.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Harper government has a history of firing cabinet appointees who have turned out not to be quite the team players they had in mind. It was only a matter of time when one of them would refuse to go quietly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In contrast, the government of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty came close to firing the provincial ombudsman, Andre Marin, but then wisely decided it would be easier to just put up with him.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The former Liberal government likely would have buried Stogran in work by calling a royal commission or or kicked him upstairs into a higher paying, but less visible, job before he caused anymore trouble.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The current government is likely learning that the bluntest instrument isn’t the best instrument for dealing with trouble.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And if they look up Morton Shulman on Wikipedia, they will find that the doctor was able to launch a very successful political career in the <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ontario</st1:place></st1:state> legislature as a New Democrat after his firing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Maybe Stogran will be offered a Senate appointment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-10949196114255798642010-11-01T22:17:00.001-04:002011-01-25T09:25:14.322-05:00Glen Murray tweets himself into trouble<p class="MsoNormal">Aside from being Ontario Research and Innovation Minister, Glen Murray has the distinction of being the first Canadian politician to have to apologize for something he said on Twitter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For some reason, the rookie minister decided it would be a good idea to tweet the world that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place>’s new mayor, Rob Ford, Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak and Prime Minister Stephen Harper were prime examples of right-wing ignorance and bigotry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Murray</st1:city></st1:place>’s tweet was prompted by homophobic references in some campaigns around the province during the Oct. 25 municipal elections.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>He wound up apologizing. Still he isn’t the first Canadian politician to make an ass of himself within 140 characters. That distinction likely belongs to federal Industry Minister Tony Clement, who rushed to take credit for preventing a drowning in a tweet almost as soon as the person was safely out of the water.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>And you can be sure <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Murray</st1:city></st1:place> won’t be the last politician to put his foot in his mouth over Twitter. Politicians have taken to Twitter in the much the same way they take to kissing babies or getting their pictures taken with hockey players.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Several dozen federal MPs have Twitter accounts. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tweeted his entire budget this year, 140 characters at a time. Tweets were an emerging tactic in the 2008 federal election and will be in the next.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One reason is that the public relations industry, always on the prowl for new services to sell, is almost as infatuated with Twitter as the politicians. Believe or not, there are already people in the PR industry selling their services as ghost tweeters to CEOs and others too busy to tweet for themselves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But another reason might be that politicians today are so heavily scripted on what to say by the bureaucracy and the party leaders, Twitter offers them an easy opportunity to get something off their chest unsupervised.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nobody has figured out a way to control tweeting by politicians, lest the parties take away their Blackberries. And that is not going to happen because modern government would soon grind to a halt.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course, 140 characters don’t leave much room for context or explanation, which explains why we have been getting a lot of nonsense from politicians’ tweets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Murray</st1:city></st1:place>’s adventure on Twitter might be a cautionary tale to other politicians. But we can only expect tweets to grow as a political tool of choice, whether they aid democracy or not.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-85089385977465068102010-10-26T08:02:00.002-04:002010-10-26T08:04:19.580-04:00How Williams trial will affect information we receive<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>No, this blog is not another reminder of the horrific crimes of Russell Williams. So relax.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But just as Williams will be a case study of the evil of which human beings are capable, the way his sentencing was covered by the media will be a case study of its own.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The sentencing represents the first major court case in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> in which reporters were allowed to cover every detail on Twitter, 140 characters at a time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Every time there was a lurid detail of Williams’ crimes, a roomful of Tweeting reporters was there to alert the outside world – so much so that visitors to the Twitter site started asking for a halt within hours.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>There is no point in worrying about how Tweets and other social media may or may not corrupt journalism. They will be affecting how the media report what we see and hear from now on.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In my experience – I first started writing for a living in the 1970s -- any new communications technology affects how the news is reported.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Computer keyboards meant journalists could write up to deadline. Videotape meant video could be on the air in minutes and so on. Technology affects how we are informed about our society.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What has not changed – and probably never will – is the media’s love for being first to report the news. Speed too often trumps accuracy, context or comprehension.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Believe or not, there was a time not too long ago when reporters could provide thoughtful coverage that gave their audience clear reasons why their stories were important.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>How is a roomful of journalists constantly tweeting information supposed to supply context and perspective to Canadians?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Let’s hope the media come up with a way to compensate for what will no longer fit into Twitter journalism.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>One thing is already apparent. Reporters rushing out Tweets will now be deciding on the spot what we see and hear instead of the editors back at the office. That means sound editorial judgment will often be missing from the product we receive – at least until the next technological development comes along.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363522845028081302.post-18993067860412855022010-10-19T06:50:00.001-04:002010-10-19T06:52:57.477-04:00How to spin and how not to<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>If there were an Olympic gold medal for political spin doctoring, Reinaldo Sepulveda would win it hands down.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>So who is Reinaldo Sepulveda? He is media director for Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. But most importantly, he is the person who assembled eight cameras with 55 technicians and media from all over the world at a remote mine site in the Atacama Desert in Chile for a drama that enthralled an entire planet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>About a billion people were watching live last week when 33 miners were hauled up one by one at the <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">San Jose</st1:city></st1:place> mining site in an operation that will likely set the gold standard for mining industry rescues for many years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The operation will also be a case study for governments around the world on how to turn a potential political disaster into what will probably be a vote getter for <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Chile</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s media-savvy president. Pinera is also the former owner of TV channel Chilevision.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When the miners were trapped Aug. 5, there was potential for disastrous consequences for any government. Safety had been an issue at the mine and the owners were not exactly forthcoming with details on what happened.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Pinera decided to put together a media spectacle thanks to Sepulveda’s three decades as a television producer with experience at several Olympics and World Cup soccer matches.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The Chilean government took incredible risks by showing the miners underground on a day-to-day basis and of course the long recovery operation. But it also did a good job of managing people’s expectations by announcing early it may take until Christmas to rescue the miners 700 metres below the surface.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Contrast this with the way BP handled its disaster in the <st1:place st="on">Gulf of Mexico</st1:place>. BP kept building up people expectations only to announce a litany of failures.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Safety and other nasty issues are bound to come up in the aftermath of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">San Jose</st1:city></st1:place> disaster. But nothing can dilute the world’s initial memories of that dramatic rescue operation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We likely will see more governments stage managing disaster relief operations after this one.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Any bets that <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place> will be one of those governments?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We are not likely to forget the way the Harper government controlled the damage of losing a seat on the UN Security Council last week.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Since we all knew <st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> faced a tough vote, you’d think <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ottawa</st1:place></st1:city> would have had a carefully-crafted cover story in reserve just in case we lost.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But the best <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Ottawa</st1:city></st1:place> could do was try to blame everything on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff – sort of like the dog ate my homework. The Harper government’s lack of strategy is very telling.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Maybe the Prime Minister’s Office should dip into the contingency fund to send its chief spindoctor, Dimitri Soudas, to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Santiago</st1:city></st1:place> to study how real professional communicators take the high road.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903780519766044461noreply@blogger.com0