afransen
Senior Member
I'm finding it rather disturbing how much the police are being used to stop the media from asking questions of candidates in this election.
At one point, a Conservative staffer ordered RCMP officers to forcibly detain reporters attempting to question Dona Cadman, a CPC candidate. An RCMP spokesperson claimed that this action was taken to protect the Prime Minister, which is odd, because he wasn't present when the event occurred. I sense something very disturbing about all of this.
Beyond that, a gag has apparently been placed on all Tory candidates. Only the PM and cabinet ministers are available for media questioning. And when those individuals are posed certain questions, they have been referring the media to government agencies/ministries. Interestingly, those government agencies have been slapped with a gag order, instructed to refuse media requests until the election is resolved.
Does anyone find this kind of behaviour acceptable, or terribly encouraging?
From the Star:
Harper a man who 'lives in a bubble'
Tory campaign goes to extraordinary lengths keeping him from public
September 25, 2008
Richard Brennan
Tonda MacCharles
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper is shielded from the public as he criss-crosses the country, campaigning in a political bubble.
No handshakes on street corners or rallies in the parks. Only highly staged backdrops for his daily political message, and assemblies where Tory staffers and security officers closely monitor the crowds.
It's a classic "front-runner" technique – a safe, tightly scripted and controlled campaign – taken to a whole new level.
Rallies are off-limits for any member of the public who just shows up. Nobody gets in unless they have been pre-registered by the local riding association. Even local media are asked to sign up in advance.
Anyone wanting to attend an event featuring Harper has to have his or her name vetted by the RCMP, said a source at Conservative campaign headquarters, who would only talk on background yesterday. He said this rule applies even outside the campaign period, so no one – even a staffer not scheduled to be there – can show up unannounced at a Harper speech and expect to be let in.
The Harper campaign keeps a short leash on national and local media, limiting questions and access to local candidates, sometimes calling on RCMP security to block reporters from doing their jobs.
Harper "hides from Canadians. He lives in a bubble," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said last night in Winnipeg.
Tensions peaked Tuesday night in Surrey, B.C., when Conservatives called on the RCMP to shield Harper and local candidate Dona Cadman after a partisan rally.
Cadman, a candidate in Surrey North, has been mum since alleging months ago that top party officials offered her dying husband, independent MP Chuck Cadman, a $1 million life-insurance policy if he would cast his vote to topple the former Paul Martin Liberal government in May 2005.
When reporters tried to speak to Cadman this week, Harper's staff ordered the RCMP to block journalists, and she was whisked away.
"Keep them out!" an aide shouted to the police officers.
Harper spokesperson Kory Teneycke said there was no need for the national media to interview local candidates. "Local candidates' priority is in the local ridings and not talking to the national media," he said.
RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay denied any interference.
"In no way were the officers assigned to protect the Prime Minister attempting to interfere with journalists trying to interview Ms. Cadman," she wrote in an email yesterday, explaining they were just trying to make sure Harper was able to leave the area safely.
But Harper had already left when it happened.
It was not the first time the campaign team had been quick to call for help.
In the campaign's opening days, when reporters at a photo opportunity in St. Eustache, Que., wanted to question Harper about his decision to suspend communications director Ryan Sparrow over a partisan jab at a dead soldier's father, a senior Tory communications official ordered the RCMP to get "that camera out of here." RCMP pushed the reporters back.
Last week, in Kitchener, the RCMP blocked about a dozen Canadian Auto Workers members protesting Harper's failure to aid jobless manufacturing workers.
Last night, Dion said Harper is keeping himself isolated from regular Canadians.
"He cannot stand talking to people who do not share his right-wing opinions. He used the RCMP to hide from the media," Dion told supporters in Winnipeg.
Tremblay said the RCMP officers are mandated to ensure the personal safety of the Prime Minister, and, during a federal election campaign, leaders of all parties with official status. She said measures are constantly reviewed, but security reasons prevented her from divulging rules of engagement.
Tremblay also said RCMP media liaison officers join reporters on the Harper tour to facilitate media access "in secure areas."
The Conservatives also restrict public access to local candidates.
Conservative candidates may give interviews with local media on local issues only. If reporters seek comment on national issues, they must go through the national campaign spokespeople instead.
The other campaigns, including Dion's and NDP Leader Jack Layton's, are far less restrictive, sometimes delivering announcements or holding rallies in parks or on street corners.
The Liberals say their doors are open.
"Wide open. Even had a heckler at the event in Calgary where 600 people showed up the other night. And unlike Harper we didn't have the RCMP remove the person. ... We don't ask for ID at the door. Come one, come all," Liberal spokesperson Mark Dunn said.
A handful of protesters showed up at an NDP rally in Edmonton Saturday to express disagreement with Layton's proposal to allow provinces and cities to ban handguns.
The RCMP asked them to leave a room, but allowed the protesters to stay when several other reporters – some with television cameras – arrived to see what was going on. An NDP media officer said later she was surprised when she learned security had tried to get them to leave.
"As long as they don't disrupt, people are allowed to be there and participate in the democratic process," NDP spokesperson Karl Belanger said.
A protester did manage to get into a Harper rally in Rockland, Ont., last week. Mounties pounced when Joel Harden stood up and called on Harper to stay the deportation of American war resister Jeremy Hinzman.
Harden was hustled out and ordered off hotel property onto the road, as were the reporters who wanted to interview him.
At one point, a Conservative staffer ordered RCMP officers to forcibly detain reporters attempting to question Dona Cadman, a CPC candidate. An RCMP spokesperson claimed that this action was taken to protect the Prime Minister, which is odd, because he wasn't present when the event occurred. I sense something very disturbing about all of this.
Beyond that, a gag has apparently been placed on all Tory candidates. Only the PM and cabinet ministers are available for media questioning. And when those individuals are posed certain questions, they have been referring the media to government agencies/ministries. Interestingly, those government agencies have been slapped with a gag order, instructed to refuse media requests until the election is resolved.
Does anyone find this kind of behaviour acceptable, or terribly encouraging?
From the Star:
Harper a man who 'lives in a bubble'
Tory campaign goes to extraordinary lengths keeping him from public
September 25, 2008
Richard Brennan
Tonda MacCharles
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper is shielded from the public as he criss-crosses the country, campaigning in a political bubble.
No handshakes on street corners or rallies in the parks. Only highly staged backdrops for his daily political message, and assemblies where Tory staffers and security officers closely monitor the crowds.
It's a classic "front-runner" technique – a safe, tightly scripted and controlled campaign – taken to a whole new level.
Rallies are off-limits for any member of the public who just shows up. Nobody gets in unless they have been pre-registered by the local riding association. Even local media are asked to sign up in advance.
Anyone wanting to attend an event featuring Harper has to have his or her name vetted by the RCMP, said a source at Conservative campaign headquarters, who would only talk on background yesterday. He said this rule applies even outside the campaign period, so no one – even a staffer not scheduled to be there – can show up unannounced at a Harper speech and expect to be let in.
The Harper campaign keeps a short leash on national and local media, limiting questions and access to local candidates, sometimes calling on RCMP security to block reporters from doing their jobs.
Harper "hides from Canadians. He lives in a bubble," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said last night in Winnipeg.
Tensions peaked Tuesday night in Surrey, B.C., when Conservatives called on the RCMP to shield Harper and local candidate Dona Cadman after a partisan rally.
Cadman, a candidate in Surrey North, has been mum since alleging months ago that top party officials offered her dying husband, independent MP Chuck Cadman, a $1 million life-insurance policy if he would cast his vote to topple the former Paul Martin Liberal government in May 2005.
When reporters tried to speak to Cadman this week, Harper's staff ordered the RCMP to block journalists, and she was whisked away.
"Keep them out!" an aide shouted to the police officers.
Harper spokesperson Kory Teneycke said there was no need for the national media to interview local candidates. "Local candidates' priority is in the local ridings and not talking to the national media," he said.
RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Sylvie Tremblay denied any interference.
"In no way were the officers assigned to protect the Prime Minister attempting to interfere with journalists trying to interview Ms. Cadman," she wrote in an email yesterday, explaining they were just trying to make sure Harper was able to leave the area safely.
But Harper had already left when it happened.
It was not the first time the campaign team had been quick to call for help.
In the campaign's opening days, when reporters at a photo opportunity in St. Eustache, Que., wanted to question Harper about his decision to suspend communications director Ryan Sparrow over a partisan jab at a dead soldier's father, a senior Tory communications official ordered the RCMP to get "that camera out of here." RCMP pushed the reporters back.
Last week, in Kitchener, the RCMP blocked about a dozen Canadian Auto Workers members protesting Harper's failure to aid jobless manufacturing workers.
Last night, Dion said Harper is keeping himself isolated from regular Canadians.
"He cannot stand talking to people who do not share his right-wing opinions. He used the RCMP to hide from the media," Dion told supporters in Winnipeg.
Tremblay said the RCMP officers are mandated to ensure the personal safety of the Prime Minister, and, during a federal election campaign, leaders of all parties with official status. She said measures are constantly reviewed, but security reasons prevented her from divulging rules of engagement.
Tremblay also said RCMP media liaison officers join reporters on the Harper tour to facilitate media access "in secure areas."
The Conservatives also restrict public access to local candidates.
Conservative candidates may give interviews with local media on local issues only. If reporters seek comment on national issues, they must go through the national campaign spokespeople instead.
The other campaigns, including Dion's and NDP Leader Jack Layton's, are far less restrictive, sometimes delivering announcements or holding rallies in parks or on street corners.
The Liberals say their doors are open.
"Wide open. Even had a heckler at the event in Calgary where 600 people showed up the other night. And unlike Harper we didn't have the RCMP remove the person. ... We don't ask for ID at the door. Come one, come all," Liberal spokesperson Mark Dunn said.
A handful of protesters showed up at an NDP rally in Edmonton Saturday to express disagreement with Layton's proposal to allow provinces and cities to ban handguns.
The RCMP asked them to leave a room, but allowed the protesters to stay when several other reporters – some with television cameras – arrived to see what was going on. An NDP media officer said later she was surprised when she learned security had tried to get them to leave.
"As long as they don't disrupt, people are allowed to be there and participate in the democratic process," NDP spokesperson Karl Belanger said.
A protester did manage to get into a Harper rally in Rockland, Ont., last week. Mounties pounced when Joel Harden stood up and called on Harper to stay the deportation of American war resister Jeremy Hinzman.
Harden was hustled out and ordered off hotel property onto the road, as were the reporters who wanted to interview him.
