How one criminal made a large impact on Canadian politics
His name is Gary Francis, an unimportant man who made a large impact. Francis unwittingly cost taxpayers one billion dollars, helped destroy one Liberal’s leadership dream and changed the way media cover crime. Francis did not do all this himself; he had accomplices, and The Toronto Star. I’d forgotten his name until it appeared in […]
Mixed media coverage of former Ontario NDP premier Rae’s name and possible run for federal Liberal leadership
Bob Rae? He’s popular. The mere whisper that Rae might seek the Liberal leadership had media burst into applause. Rae is a “bilingual big brain” with “vision,” wrote the National Post’s John Ivison. The Canadian Press called him “passionate.” CBC Newsworld interrupted regular programming to broadcast a Rae speech from Winnipeg in which the ex-premier […]
Is it possible that after running in circles for 13 years, Conservatives won an election just in time to get sideswiped by the economy?
Was it an omen? The day Cabinet was sworn in, oil hit $66 U.S. a barrel. That same day, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge gave a speech in which he worried over “very tight” oil markets and “economic disruption,” even “outright recession.” Economists are now predicting $78 oil by summer. Is it possible that […]
The emotional theatre and performance of political apologies
It takes no character to apologize for what others did. It is a nice, warm helping of righteousness without risk of personal embarrassment. It’s the kind of emotional theatre they perform on Oprah in between commercial breaks. Yet, “sorry” is a popular adjective in politics and media. When the 39th Parliament convenes in three weeks, […]
Media flap over Stairs firing from PMO was puzzling
It must be news; they issued a press release. “Harper Flack Gets The Boot.” The punchy Sun Media headline was the one, brief smile in a flood of turgid coverage that exposed the irritable side of media. When communications director William Stairs was dismissed from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s PMO, it drew as much editorial […]
Something about daycare stories brings out worst in some media
Something about children brings out the worst in media. Parliament has yet to argue Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s proposal to substitute Liberal daycare subsidies with a $1,200 baby bonus, but journalists are already serving up the baloney sandwiches. Don’t eat that, kids, it’s luncheon meat. CBC-TV journalist Jennifer Ditchburn reported Harper’s plan would cut aid […]
Why are media still fixated on Martin Brian Mulroney?
Media can’t get enough of Mulroney, and he can’t get enough of them and neither seems to notice the country doesn’t give a damn By TOM KORSKI So, the old man is back. There he is on TV in old footage with a Cesar Romero tan in the middle of winter. Here he is in […]
Media think they know Prime Minister Harper, but he has two striking qualities that remain largely unreported…
I knew the Prime Minister once. He has transparent blue-green eyes, like a wolf, that some people find unnerving. Liberal attack ads always focused on the eyes. Like other Alberta reporters I knew Stephen Harper 15 years ago, before he became a media caricature of a hockey dad, or a redneck, or an automaton. I […]
Media encourage cities to get more federal funding, but fail to question the veracity of the mammoth figures
That didn’t take long. Only days into a new administration, lobbyists were swarming like ferrets over federal aid for cities. “Toronto officials from the mayor on down burned up the phone lines,” reported The Globe and Mail. This marks the first time in Canadian history that somebody qualified for pork by not voting for a […]
Martin spent whole life at the top, he’s no Horatio Alger, eh?
So it begins, the media search for clues to the mystery: why did Paul Martin self-immolate? Acclaimed as the man to “make history,” he spent 26 miserable months in office and rates among our worst Prime Ministers. “Canadian politics have gone to hell,” The St. John’s Telegram once wrote of Martin’s administration. Was he too […]
