Bentley - who has yet to find a replacement for ace communications adviser Peter Fitzpatrick, a former National Post reporter recently hired by Air Canada - suffered the most humiliating media event of the McGuinty era on Wednesday.
In a bizarre news conference in the basement auditorium of the MaRS research facility on College Street, the minister took to the stage, flanked by a billboard-sized backdrop, emblazoned with slogan: “Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher. Reaching Higher.”
Yes, 48 times.
And if that were not enough two other massive signs on stage right read, “Reaching Higher.”
And why did the minister convene a press conference?
To announce Higher Tuition Fees - or, as one press wag noted, to tell students they would soon be Reaching Deeper into their pockets to pay fees.
If only the communications bungling had ended with the visuals.
Some member of the Liberal brain trust - we’re too nice to name names - thought it would be cute to invite dozens of student leaders. To a press conference announcing, er, higher tuition fees. For students.
So as soon as Bentley revealed he would be lifting the government’s two-year freeze on tuition - a long-stated goal to give colleges and universities more money for programs - and would be increasing fees by up to eight per cent, the students went berserk.
“Shame,” they jeered. “You suck. You’re no better than Mike Harris.”
On and on it went for many agonizing minutes while the poor minister stood alone on stage.
Not that he could escape to do a scrum with the 20 or so reporters covering the announcement. Prior to the start of the students’ outbursts, organizers haughtily advised that the minister would be taking questions from the stage instead of the customary low-key scrum in a quiet adjacent room.
This enabled the angry students to continue peppering Bentley with insults and accusations as he tried to disseminate the government’s message to journalists.
If there was a silver lining to the fiasco, it was that the minister maintained his cool throughout and the two Ontario Provincial Police officers assigned specifically for the event never had to intervene.
Still, there was much schadenfreude-esque chortling in Liberal circles back at Queen’s Park from those who had urged a less public disclosure that fees were rising.
Memo to the Grits: when it comes to bad news, do what the Tories used to do - announce it in a press release on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend.
And hire Chris Bentley a press secretary!
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