Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Journalists stage boycott of PM's press conference

percy · 05-30-2006, 01:51 PM

And well, another opinion,..

Canadians take a liking to Harper's style

By Herman Goodden

No small part of my giddy enjoyment of the first 100 days of Stephen Harper's prime-minister-ship has derived from the Tories' unerring marksmanship in exploding one smug Liberal shibboleth after another. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself and ask, "Is this really happening in Canada?"

Even if some hot new wunderkid such as Michael Ignatieff should succeed in rallying the Liberal troops to retake Parliament some time next year, I'll savour this interlude for decades to come as a sort of Ottawa variation on the Prague Spring.

Suddenly everything is open for discussion and question again. All those manifestly obvious facts of life that were too upsetting to broach under the Liberal regime are finally receiving due consideration.

Repeatedly and temperately, Harper has called out the media for the unfailing leftward tilt of their coverage. Though they vociferously sulk and whine because Harper reserves the right to choose whose questions he'll take in what order at media scrums, the press has yet to rouse much public concern for their diminished access. After the staggering incoherence of Jean Chretien and the non-stop platitudinizing of Paul Martin, too many Canadians are frankly enjoying the less-talk, more- action approach of this government.

From a public relations standpoint, it was a fatally petty move when 30 members of the Ottawa press gallery walked out in protest as the prime minister was about to address the Canadian response to the crisis in Darfur. Here we are ponying up an urgently needed $40 million for water, food and medicine to assist 2.5 million displaced human beings, and this select group of media giants insists the really important story here is Harper's unwillingness to let them badger him.

Support for Harper and the Tories is only building as they set to work dismantling one multibillion-dollar sinkhole after another that liberal orthodoxy deemed untouchable. Sure, the national gun registry was an obscenely expensive farce that only harassed weekend hunters while allowing full-time mobsters and thugs to conduct their lethal business in an unencumbered way.

Taxpayers were expected to keep on funding that fiscal pyre till the end of time because how can you not be for gun control? Then Harper astutely deduced there was far more security to be had by diverting funds from the compilation of some airy and unwieldy list to the actual hands-on policing of our communities.

Ditto the universal day-care scheme that Liberals kept promising. Didn't everybody want Canadian babies to enjoy top-quality, professional care? Harper let the air out of that delusion by honouring the far deeper desire of most young families to catch a few tax breaks and credits that could help them afford to take care of their own infants.

Now Harper's critics are upset at this government's unmistakable cooling toward the Kyoto global warming treaty. In terms of sound bytes, there were no stronger promoters of Kyoto on this planet than the Liberals. Last year, Paul Martin looked to score some America-bashing Green points by lecturing George W. Bush. "To the reticent nations, including the United States, I say this: There is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it."

Then new figures were released revealing that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions had ballooned by a whopping 25 per cent since 1990. Over that same period, Kyoto holdout America's emissions increase was only in the mid-teens. The best performance of all was clocked up by another Kyoto refusenik, Australia, whose prime minister, John Howard, Harper warmly welcomed for a visit to Canada this month.

Harper has shown himself to be a shrewd and canny politician, ready to take a stand and unafraid, if necessary, to step away from a really fine sounding program that just isn't working. Such behaviour is radically shocking to Canadians. But over the last 100 days and counting, more and more of us are starting to develop a real taste for it.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Col...0/1605429.html

05-30-2006, 01:51 PM	#15 (permalink)
percy Addict	And well, another opinion,.. Canadians take a liking to Harper's style By Herman Goodden No small part of my giddy enjoyment of the first 100 days of Stephen Harper's prime-minister-ship has derived from the Tories' unerring marksmanship in exploding one smug Liberal shibboleth after another. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself and ask, "Is this really happening in Canada?" Even if some hot new wunderkid such as Michael Ignatieff should succeed in rallying the Liberal troops to retake Parliament some time next year, I'll savour this interlude for decades to come as a sort of Ottawa variation on the Prague Spring. Suddenly everything is open for discussion and question again. All those manifestly obvious facts of life that were too upsetting to broach under the Liberal regime are finally receiving due consideration. Repeatedly and temperately, Harper has called out the media for the unfailing leftward tilt of their coverage. Though they vociferously sulk and whine because Harper reserves the right to choose whose questions he'll take in what order at media scrums, the press has yet to rouse much public concern for their diminished access. After the staggering incoherence of Jean Chretien and the non-stop platitudinizing of Paul Martin, too many Canadians are frankly enjoying the less-talk, more- action approach of this government. From a public relations standpoint, it was a fatally petty move when 30 members of the Ottawa press gallery walked out in protest as the prime minister was about to address the Canadian response to the crisis in Darfur. Here we are ponying up an urgently needed $40 million for water, food and medicine to assist 2.5 million displaced human beings, and this select group of media giants insists the really important story here is Harper's unwillingness to let them badger him. Support for Harper and the Tories is only building as they set to work dismantling one multibillion-dollar sinkhole after another that liberal orthodoxy deemed untouchable. Sure, the national gun registry was an obscenely expensive farce that only harassed weekend hunters while allowing full-time mobsters and thugs to conduct their lethal business in an unencumbered way. Taxpayers were expected to keep on funding that fiscal pyre till the end of time because how can you not be for gun control? Then Harper astutely deduced there was far more security to be had by diverting funds from the compilation of some airy and unwieldy list to the actual hands-on policing of our communities. Ditto the universal day-care scheme that Liberals kept promising. Didn't everybody want Canadian babies to enjoy top-quality, professional care? Harper let the air out of that delusion by honouring the far deeper desire of most young families to catch a few tax breaks and credits that could help them afford to take care of their own infants. Now Harper's critics are upset at this government's unmistakable cooling toward the Kyoto global warming treaty. In terms of sound bytes, there were no stronger promoters of Kyoto on this planet than the Liberals. Last year, Paul Martin looked to score some America-bashing Green points by lecturing George W. Bush. "To the reticent nations, including the United States, I say this: There is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it." Then new figures were released revealing that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions had ballooned by a whopping 25 per cent since 1990. Over that same period, Kyoto holdout America's emissions increase was only in the mid-teens. The best performance of all was clocked up by another Kyoto refusenik, Australia, whose prime minister, John Howard, Harper warmly welcomed for a visit to Canada this month. Harper has shown himself to be a shrewd and canny politician, ready to take a stand and unafraid, if necessary, to step away from a really fine sounding program that just isn't working. Such behaviour is radically shocking to Canadians. But over the last 100 days and counting, more and more of us are starting to develop a real taste for it. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Col...0/1605429.html