05-24-2006, 09:12 AM | #1 (permalink) | |
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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Journalists stage boycott of PM's press conference
Seems PM Harper has upset some journalists by trying to be like his American counterpart and only let certain journalists ask questions during the scrums. They say they are trying to install some order to the scrums, but for some reason I just don't buy it.
Looks to me like Harper is trying to keep those that disagree with him from voicing their opinions. What next are we going to have American style town hall meetings where only loyal Conservatives are allowed? It's a first for journalists boycotting a prime ministerial news conference though, so he can say he was the first to have that happen. Quote:
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05-24-2006, 12:05 PM | #2 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: Ontario, Canada
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05-24-2006, 01:20 PM | #4 (permalink) |
Getting it.
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Location: Lion City
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I think this is bullshit.
The beauty of the Canadian system was access. It's an unofficial aspect of "good governance". Harper wants to present his best foot forward. He is concerned that he will come out looking like an ass. This would effect his chances of re-election. Mulroney, Trudeau, Chretien, etc. were all accessesible to the media (to the point of sparring with them). Harper isn't as quick on his feet. He is more like policy wonk or a bureaucrat than what we have come to think of as a Canadian leader. If he isn't careful, this could bite him in the ass.
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05-24-2006, 02:11 PM | #5 (permalink) | |
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To me that says Harper is doing a good job so far. I wish my memory was so good to remember when Chretien would walk past reporters after any number of scandals and didnt say boo.But that doesn't count. It never does when one is a bleeding heart liberal |
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05-25-2006, 04:11 AM | #6 (permalink) | |
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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How does this say Harper is doing a good job? Is it because he's putting limits on who can ask him questions. Or is it because of his paranoia that the media is against his government? Yes Chretien WALKED past them, he didn't want them to submit their names to a list and then have the PM go through said list and pick the journalists HE wants to have ask questions. Seems rather big brotherish to me, or at least very American.
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05-25-2006, 04:34 AM | #7 (permalink) |
Getting it.
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Location: Lion City
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What I am proud of is the fact that our media has done this at all. The American media should hang its collective head in shame.
For the Ottawa press corps to collectively say that they will not cover the PM unless this stops is a good thing. Remember, this all of the media, not just the so called "left". As for defending Harper... what he is doing is indefensible. One of the cornerstones of our Constitution speaks about "good governence". This means that our government must be accountable for their actions. It is the whole purpose of Question Period. To my mind, access for the press is also part of this. Why would we want to encourage spin? Why would we want *any* PM to be able to duck the difficult questions?
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
05-25-2006, 05:07 AM | #8 (permalink) | |
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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I find this so amusing, Harpers complaining the media is being harder on him than they would be on a Liberal leader. What a load of shit that is. Is it the medias fault he can't think quick enough on his feet to answer impromptu questions from journalists? Maybe he's mistaking bias for being an objective journalist, or maybe he's just a wee bit more like Dubya than we thought and he needs control of everything. Well at least he's taking his ball and going on the road. What a buffoon Harper is becoming, I guess accountability only goes for everyone else other than Harper. I hope this bites him in the ass.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder Last edited by silent_jay; 05-25-2006 at 05:08 AM.. Reason: Forgot source for article |
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05-25-2006, 07:53 AM | #9 (permalink) | |
Junkie
Location: The Danforth
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huh? such paranoia/bigotry... why say liberals are bleeding heart? And if they are, what is the issue with that? I cannot think of any more conservative a value than good old traditional Canadian concern for the fellow person. I truly object to the characterization of bleeding heart-ism as being A) a bad thing and B) a Liberal thing. As for Harper doing a good job so far: I like his stance on Afghanistan, but the devil is in the details. He needs to rise above being perceived as petty as is illustrated in the press conference thing, and the whole tempest around the coverage of the return of our dead soldiers or his snub of McGuinty This is not becoming. Statesmanship is applicable at home as well as abroad. I am also waiting anxiously for his election plank of income splitting for single income families. This is the nuts and bolts of life, and the main promise that I liked from him. I am also awaiting the securing of our sovereignty in the North. But... He deserves some time on these major issues andI will wait, as I have given fair time to Martin. People always have good memories of that cretin Chretien (even though his one smart act of keeping Canada out of Iraq on the eve of a Quebec election was a stroke of genious) but I've noticed that they have very poor memories of the scandals that rocked the Mulroney gov't. There's a reason that the Liberals had the mandate for sooooooo long. Now, I propose that we desist from slagging based upon the positioning of a party, as we cansee there is very little difference between Libs & cons, but take a look at the details, and how they behave themselves. As Chretien was petty with the Pepper Spray incident (his joking of pepper on a plate swayed me away from voting for him ever again) so is Harper in this latest behaviour.
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05-25-2006, 01:16 PM | #10 (permalink) |
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I'm guessing the reason Harper is doing this is because much of what is spoken of him,...ie Acting like Dubya, is trying to turn Canada into an American style entity, is a weak leader etc etc etc etc is because so many everyday citizens have believed hook line and sinker in this nonsense and repeated these same inconsistencies over and over again.
As for people who question Harpers accountability at this early stage, yet voted Liberal in the last election, give your heads a shake.You are the last people who should comment on accountability after the corrupt Liberals made you and everyone else in this country look like fools. Do I like what Harper has done? In the short term yeah. It's nice to see the sublimely subjective media get bitch slapped once in a while. But if he keeps it up, he might pay for it. But probably not. Canadians don't have memories like elephants do, but if they have I'm sure some spin can come out of the conservative media to take the heat off,...maybe something like the AMERICAN owned Tim Hortons running out of coffee or Canadian cable companies not showing American shows like 24, Lost or whatever.Tsk Tsk. Now play nice boys. |
05-25-2006, 01:45 PM | #11 (permalink) |
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Which brings up another point surrounding this absurd sense of Harper trying to Americanize Canada. Good Grief
How many people here have, as I stated, supported Tim Hortons? How many of you have eaten a Big Mac, Whopper or Subway Sub? Guess what? American owned. Anyone driven in or owned a Ford or a Buick car or truck? Watched tv or been to a movie recently? Read a book or magazine lately? Chances are it was produced by Americans. The point being Canada is so saturated by American influence that it has over run our daily lives. And people are terrified that Stephen Harper is priming Canada to become the next state or states belonging to the USA. Oh the horror. It's like people who bitch about Walmart because they've been told it's bad,bad bad. If Walmart is as bad as people say, then Greenpeace are terrorists. Geez, Walmart pays terrible wages for workers in China so people here can save a buck. Look around your homes and find how many things are made in China or Taiwan then compare them to how much stuff is Made in Canada. Anyone eat an apple, an orange or strawberry lately. If it came from America, chances are that piece of fruit you have eaten was picked by a migrant worker working his ass off for peanuts. Do you care? Do you think about it? Anyone have a Bell Canada land line in their house? Do you think the call center in India where Bell employs hundreds of people at are making $20 bucks an hour like they would here? Bet it is hot in there too. And not unionized either. Anyway the point is before people go off on this ridiculous notion that we are becoming too American, look around. And look at the world as well. Quietly acknowledging our sometime hypocritical self is rather humbling at times, in a polite Canadian way that is. Last edited by percy; 05-25-2006 at 01:52 PM.. |
05-25-2006, 04:56 PM | #12 (permalink) | ||
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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Seems funny you can support someone who feels the need to ask journalists to submit their names to a list and only ask questions that are approved by the PMO. Doesn't seem like a press conference at all, more like a speech by Harper. This has nothing to do with Canadians using American products, or Canadians being Americanized by TV, it has to do with Harper trying to use Big Brother tactics (a la the US) to subdue the media and keep dissidents from voicing their opinions. Like I've previously stated what's next US style town hall meetings, with only Conservative supporters allowed? Or maybe Harper will want to get out of the House of Commons so he doesn't have to think on his feet. Quote:
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05-25-2006, 05:40 PM | #13 (permalink) |
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Yeah I'll give you some points silent_jay for that but wait,...Leaf fan.@#!*@#
That's ok, that explains alot LOL BAH Are there anymore chicks in the Canada forum or am I just surrounded by guys? Wouldn't be the first time. And as far as Harper.If I dressed him and took care of his image he would have scored a majority. He's got nice eyes though. (Sorry imagining myself being blonde.) No offence taken,.. Why not set up a thread dedicated to Harper and count on his so-called mistakes as PM. BUT you have to have a better primeministerial response.Nah no one would be interested. Maybe call it SO YOU THINK YOU ARE THE PRIME MINISTER. It's got a ring to it. Anyone up for the challenge. sorry jacked the thread |
05-29-2006, 07:15 AM | #14 (permalink) | |
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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Found an interesting story in 'The Hill Times'. Seems to recap things and also has an interview with the new press gallery president, Yves Malo. Seems Harper is trying to stick to his guns, guess we'll see how it works out.
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05-30-2006, 01:51 PM | #15 (permalink) |
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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, 03:20 PM | #16 (permalink) |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
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The issue of what Harper is doing in one part of his mandate and what he is doing with the press are really seperate issues.
Ultimately, his stance with the Ottawa press corps is one where he wants to control the message. This is Harper's leadership style in a nutshell. He wants to hold all the cards. He does not trust his ministers and backbenchers to stay on message. He does not trust the media to buy his particular flavour of spin. I do not buy the idea that the media is "leftist". It just doesn't hold water. Examine the stance of CTV talking heads, Mike Duffy and Tom Clark... these guys are decidedly centrist/right leaning (it is no surprise that Clark was the only Canadian journalist to interview Bush in a one to one situation). The thing is, Harper is going to do things differently from the previous Liberal governments (one hopes anyway). People have questions about change. It really is his job to answer the tough questions. The media is there to ask the tough questions. When I say he is taking a decidedly more US approach to his PR I do not mean that he is making Canada equal America. I mean that he is taking a page out of the US idea about what a press conference should be. They are pseudo events (this goes back much further than the 60s). There are few hard questions. Those who do ask hard questions are not invited back. The press conference is ultimately about spinning your message. Traditionally our press has been free to ask whatever they like. The PM (or the minister on the hot seat) answers. Of course, they are also free to answer, "no comment." Harper, in silencing his ministers and snubbing the press corps is trying to control the message and stage "press conferences" that conform to his message. I suppose Herman Goodden (the writer above) has a taste for this but I know I don't. Harper can continue to alter policy, etc. I may not agree with everything he does, but as PM that is his perogrative (as long as he has the support of the House). The only thing I truly take exception to is his attempt to control the message with an iron fist. As I said above, it runs counter to his own pledge of accountability and more importantly it runs counter to our constitutions pledge of "responsible government". A big part of responsible govenment is accountability. Part of this is achieve during question period and the other part is by the press... This is especially important during a time like this when the opposition is quiet (the Liberals do not have a leader and no one else wants to rock the boat at present and risk an election). At times like this we need to press asking the tough questions. If Harper is as good as he says he is, then he should have not difficulty answering the difficult questions.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
05-30-2006, 06:41 PM | #17 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: Yellowknife, NWT
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See now this is why I NEVER EVER get involved in the political discussions. I have opinions, but man, some people....
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05-31-2006, 04:31 AM | #18 (permalink) |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
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Antikarma... you can't just say that and NOT post your opinion...
Come on, we all play nice and promise not to bite.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
05-31-2006, 04:51 AM | #19 (permalink) | |
Her Jay
Location: Ontario for now....
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Quote:
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder |
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05-31-2006, 06:00 AM | #20 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: Yellowknife, NWT
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My opinion isn't spectacular or stunning. I pretty much agree with what silent_jay said, and I need to point out that I have always HATED the politics of Harper, but have to say that I'm not displeased with his actions since he took office (with the exception of this of course).
My displeasure, and why I stay away from these threads, is people feel the need to come out loud mouthed and swinging, spurting things like "Liberal whining" and "Bias" and I mean, I can see this being two steps away from "Granola chewing marygeewanna smoking hippy motherf****". I love the fact that the political discussions on this board have stayed away from the partisan bickering of the Politics board, and hate to see the fact that this isn't the case here. I myself have a political bias of course, as we all do, but you'll NEVER hear me coming out saying "Red neck sheep humping tractor jockeys don't understand how the media works and are ascared of people finding out their cousin is their aunt". EVERY political party has its merits, and as long as people are voting Conservative in Quebec I think that we can fairly say that the ideologies pass beyond geographical boundaries. I hate to see us becoming the Yankees, I guess, where we blindly follow our political affiliations to the point of name calling and juvenile behavior. I dislike Harper, I do. But, beyond these actions you couldn't dredge a poor word outta me regararding his term thus far, or anyone that voted for him. On that note, I'll let you tear it apart and flame on. I'm married, I can take ANY insult you have.
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05-31-2006, 01:39 PM | #21 (permalink) | |
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Then you can repost similar thoughts for no other reason but to be non-biased |
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05-31-2006, 02:53 PM | #22 (permalink) | |
Psycho
Location: Yellowknife, NWT
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Me and you Percy, we're obviously on seperate ends of the political spectrum, but I'll bet you any money that if we sat down over a beer, we'd agree on more than we disagreed on. Thats the purpose of discussions like these. I want your opinion. I want everyone's opinion. I just worry that this board will go the way of Tilted Politics, where partisan bias and spelling becomes more important than personal values and opinion.
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boycott, conference, journalists, press, stage |
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