Long memories

Here's a riddle: What is the similarity between Prime Minister Stephen Harper throwing a football on the lawn of Parliament in 2005 and Liberal leader Stephane Dion doing the weather on CITY TV in 2008?

On immediate consideration, the answer would seem to be - nothing much.

But the Conservative spin machine sees a similarity, I guess, which explains why TWO of us at the Star have received messages from the party's HQ in the last 24 hours - asking us if we're going to write or comment on Dion's weatherman stint the same way we did about Harper throwing the football with Peter MacKay after Belinda Stronach's dramatic floor-crossing in May, 2005.

I apparently was on TV afterward in 2005, saying the Harper-MacKay stunt made me cringe (still does, actually). So Conservatives wanted to know if Dion doing the weather made me cringe too. Another of us had called the football game a PR display, so the Conservatives wanted to know if that's how he'd write about Dion doing the weather.

I'm assuming that if two of us got these messages at the Star, there are other reporters out there getting them too. In other words, they're now digging through their three-year-old records, looking for stuff said about Harper while he was in opposition - stuff that made them mad, apparently - and trying to leverage that into negative coverage of Dion.

I don't recall any political party doing this in the past - despite some Conservatives' conviction that the Liberals dictated negative media coverage of Harper, then and now. For the record, when Liberals did try to get me to write that Harper had a "secret agenda" or that he was scary in opposition, I'd usually tell them "you would say that, wouldn't you?" and tell them it was hardly front-page news that Liberals didn't like Harper. Same thing applies to Conservatives.

Comments

[Platty]

So, you will be writing about the fact that Prime Minister Stephen Harper this past week became the first Canadian to receive the B’nai Brith International President’s Gold Medallion then?

[knb]

How utterly bizarre.

I imagine that Dion did the piece with City for publicity, but since when is that out of line? It wasn't a publicity 'stunt' designed to distract from a real issue. It was publicity, period.

It was City who set the weatherman bit up and then the piece goes on to do a 'mini' sell on the streets. It included dissenters and even those who didn't know who Dion was.

Harper and MacKay were framing a narrative to distract from a real issue while Dion was shining a light on a real issue that is controversial.

They aren't remotely similar. Furthermore, what a strange strategy by the Conservatives. Who thought of 'let's send media all of their past coverage of Harper's boneheaded moves, just to remind them'?

Me thinks the MSM were misled when they were told Harper was a great strategist.

[bob ward]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper this past week became the first Canadian to receive the B’nai Brith International President’s Gold Medallion.

I was wondering why there was no news coverage of this either?

[Sandi]

Harper's reward was given by ONE group who's president is a Conservative....hmmmm....

Ah, exactly what has Harper done on human rights? Not much and only started using the issue for political points.

Hey, did Harper and the Conservative supporters congratulate Linda Keen on her prestigious award? Na, didn't think so.

It would take more than one special interest group with political ties and leanings to the Conservatives to make me want to congratulate him.

So - the Conservatives trying to control the media - even what they write.

We should be calling Parliament Hill - Kremlin Hill.

[Robin]

Harper received this award for pandering to the Jewish vote with his famous, "measured response" quip. He used the tragic events of the Lebanese/Israeli conflict as a wedge issue for purely partisan gain. He is a political opportunist of the highest order. If there were votes to be had in the gay community, Harper would insist on being the Grand Marshall of Toronto's Gay Pride parade.

[PhantomObserver]

Frankly, if I were the Star, I wouldn't be worried about whether they covered the Dion weatherman bit.

I'd be worried that, if it did get covered, the slant of the story was either complimentary to Dion or condescending. Either could be used by Tory flacks as examples of media bias, either towards Liberals (if the slant is the former) or against politicians in general (if the latter).

[Gabby in QC]

Here's what another journalist wrote:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Persichilli_Angelo/2008/06/29/6016671-sun.php
"We also have the opposition parties abusing their majority in the committees to find incriminating information against Harper, ***looking as far back as events that took place when the prime minister was in kindergarten.***"

Yes, I know, some will probably dismiss the writer as just another conservative hack. And he's admittedly exaggerating a bit; I doubt anyone has yet quoted what Mr. Harper said in kindergarten or in the sandbox, (cute little tyke that he must have been!) ;-)
Be that as it may.

But it cannot be denied that other parties have engaged in digging up controversial statements made by Conservatives and small-c conservatives, and used those statements out of context to portray the conservatives in a negative light. And some of that "research" could conceivably have come from journalists.

[Imethisguy]

Can someone explain the objective distinction between 'publicity' and 'publicity stunt'?

[James Curran]

I remember Stanfield played football once.

[Brian Finch]

The difference is that the Conservatives make is more than a full time job digging up anything on anyone to assassinate the character of anyone who challenges them instead of debating policy or anything of substance.

Dion simply used a platform to get the message out. What message is there in throwing a football, other than "Look at me, I'm throwing a ball, how do you like me so far?" And, it's keeping Dion and his policy on the agenda. Whether it's good or bad, we are talking or writing about him.

And contrary to the "victim"and "outsider" mentality, which is what happens when one is completely out of touch with mainstream society, there was coverage about the B’nai Brith International President’s Gold Medallion as this is how I found out about it.

Well, he's getting his just rewards for his none to concealed attempt at diaspora politics. Many political journalists have covered this aspect of Harpers politiking. It's too bad that a party has to try to capture the prejudices of those who come from cultures different than Canada's. It's nice to capitalize on the homophobia of a recently immigrated family from a religiously orthodox environment, should that be extended to second-rate status of women and girls? Or is this the time we draw the line then.

Good for Dion getting out there and talking about policy, and not simply playing politics for power.

[Bill Long]

I'm sure all the widows of the eighty or so dead labour leaders
in the nation of our latest "free trade" partner will be just
so pleased with Mr. Harper's latest honour.

[Jason Cherniak]

When Dion starts throwing around a football on Parliament Hill, then there will be a comparison.

[Gabby in QC]

Mr. Finch, I recommend you do a bit more reading before you make statements like this one:
"Well, he's getting his just rewards for his none to concealed attempt at diaspora politics. Many political journalists have covered this aspect of Harpers politiking. It's too bad that a party has to try to capture the prejudices of those who come from cultures different than Canada's."

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC886743
"The Liberal party dominated Canadian politics through much of the 20th century. ... In recent years, its emphasis on tolerance has appealed to immigrants and urban voters, and has allowed the party to portray its opponents in English Canada as small-minded."

http://www.answers.com/topic/liberal-party-of-canada
"The Trudeau Liberals are also credited with support for official multiculturalism as a means of integrating immigrants into Canadian society without forcing them to shed their culture. As a result of this and a more sympathetic attitude by Liberals towards immigration policy, the party has built a base of support among recent immigrants and their children."

http://www.frankabrams.com/TFH%20pages/Leslie%20Scrivener.htm
"Historically, Canada's Jewish voters have stood with the Liberal party, voting them in at a rate 20 per cent higher than the national average during the 1970s. That support has fallen in recent years to 8 to 10 per cent above the average. Jewish voters remember that the Liberals under Trudeau appointed Canada's first Jewish cabinet minister, Herb Gray, in 1969, and they have favoured the party's progressive social policies."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20020722.html
"Canada's ethnic groups joined the francophones and became the second main pillar of the Liberal party. Canada's ethnic groups thus provided the mortar and straw for the House of Liberalism. Ethnic power in the Liberal party went a long way to creating Canada's one party state."

As a member of one of the many "diasporas" who came to this country, I know full well how the Liberals masterfully courted that vote, often addressing ethnic groups in their own - though almost unrecognizable - native language.

Finally, since people such as yourself usually look down their noses at one of the predecessors of the Conservative Party, i.e. the Reform Party, I must remind you of another bit of history of the Liberal Party (from Wiki):
"The Liberals are descended from the mid-19th century ***Reformers*** who agitated for responsible government throughout British North America."
Ironic, eh?
Happy Canada Day!

[David Harvey]

With respect to "long memories", I have yet to read much comment in the media about McKay's blatant lie about not speaking with the Reform party about amalgamation during his leadership campaign and what it says about Harper. Does not Harper's acceptance of such lying and then his elevation of the liar to second place in the party tell us something about the ethical standards, or lack thereof, of our Prime Minister