Harpers Boycott of the National Media and the Current State of Affairs in Parliament
Since very few outlets are really covering this, I thought I would take a moment to outline some thoughts I have on Harpers decision to effectively ignore the national media.
Why has Harper done this?
The short answer is because he can.
If the Grits had their house in order, they would be jumping up and down screaming and ranting over it. Harper would be facing a brand new rat pack in the commons caterwauling and grinding things to a halt in a (likely very succesful) attempt to frustrate Harper into either opening up to the media or call an election to simply shut them up.
Unfortunately for Canada, the Liberals are in dissaray, without a leader, divided, broke, and crashing in the polls.
And so that job falls on the other opposition parties...
Except the Bloc is doing everything possible to not rock the boat. The latest Ipsos-Reid poll of Quebec placed the Tories at 33% and rising compared to the Bloc's 38% and falling.
If the Bloc are forced into another election, they will lose a lot of ground to the tories. Which will put a huge lift in the sails of Quebec federalists, just shortly before a major provincial election.
The Bloc's main goal now is to ride out this parliament until after Charest calls an election in Quebec, which will likely happen sometime in early 2007.
The NDP? The NDP hold historic seat totals, they havent seen this many seats since the 80's and they desparately dont want to risk that with another election while Harper is riding so high in the polls.
Besides which, the Liberals are the only party that really has the respectability to do the kicking and screaming.
So long as the opposition is meek, Harper can continue to ignore the media with impunity.
What does this mean for Canada?
It means that we all lose out. When it comes to government accountability and government transparency, we lose. It is the media's job to hold the government to account. It was the media that broke the Watergate, Whitewater, Shawinigate, the Fast Ferries and so many others.
Its the media that delivers the message of these things to the people. Without the media, we have no means of knowing whats going on in Ottawa.
And thats how Harper likes it, the only message we see is his message. And its working wonderfully for him.
Will it last?
No, it cant.
Come the new year, the Grits will have a new leader (whomever he is, I say he, as the only real options are white males) and will be looking to even the score.
All sides know from the last election that anyone can take Quebec and Ontario these days, both are up for grabs.
We're walking into a whole new era in canadian federal politics, and everyone is angling to be the hegemonic power for the next decade, it'll be an interesting year in 2007 to be sure.
Since very few outlets are really covering this, I thought I would take a moment to outline some thoughts I have on Harpers decision to effectively ignore the national media.
Why has Harper done this?
The short answer is because he can.
If the Grits had their house in order, they would be jumping up and down screaming and ranting over it. Harper would be facing a brand new rat pack in the commons caterwauling and grinding things to a halt in a (likely very succesful) attempt to frustrate Harper into either opening up to the media or call an election to simply shut them up.
Unfortunately for Canada, the Liberals are in dissaray, without a leader, divided, broke, and crashing in the polls.
And so that job falls on the other opposition parties...
Except the Bloc is doing everything possible to not rock the boat. The latest Ipsos-Reid poll of Quebec placed the Tories at 33% and rising compared to the Bloc's 38% and falling.
If the Bloc are forced into another election, they will lose a lot of ground to the tories. Which will put a huge lift in the sails of Quebec federalists, just shortly before a major provincial election.
The Bloc's main goal now is to ride out this parliament until after Charest calls an election in Quebec, which will likely happen sometime in early 2007.
The NDP? The NDP hold historic seat totals, they havent seen this many seats since the 80's and they desparately dont want to risk that with another election while Harper is riding so high in the polls.
Besides which, the Liberals are the only party that really has the respectability to do the kicking and screaming.
So long as the opposition is meek, Harper can continue to ignore the media with impunity.
What does this mean for Canada?
It means that we all lose out. When it comes to government accountability and government transparency, we lose. It is the media's job to hold the government to account. It was the media that broke the Watergate, Whitewater, Shawinigate, the Fast Ferries and so many others.
Its the media that delivers the message of these things to the people. Without the media, we have no means of knowing whats going on in Ottawa.
And thats how Harper likes it, the only message we see is his message. And its working wonderfully for him.
Will it last?
No, it cant.
Come the new year, the Grits will have a new leader (whomever he is, I say he, as the only real options are white males) and will be looking to even the score.
All sides know from the last election that anyone can take Quebec and Ontario these days, both are up for grabs.
We're walking into a whole new era in canadian federal politics, and everyone is angling to be the hegemonic power for the next decade, it'll be an interesting year in 2007 to be sure.
posted by Patrick Meehan at 5:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home