“Harper’s
strategy of refusing to take more than five questions a day from
reporters amounts to a gross disservice to the public. Four of the
permitted questions (generally two in French and two in English) go
to reporters following Harper’s campaign, while the fifth is
allotted to a local scribe, wherever the Conservative news conference
that day happens to be staged. .....
It’s ironic. The
Conservatives came to power promising more accountability, more
openness and more access to information. Those principles matter the
most in an election, when people need as many answers as possible to
make an informed choice.”
“Two young ladies
were removed from a Conservative rally in London because a Facebook
page showed them posing with Ignatieff, I was unaware of some of the
more sinister details, details that potential voters both young and
old should take note of.
While the ejection of two young and new voters is deplorable enough, it seems the real story here is the fact that the RCMP was acting in a political capacity by removing them at the Conservatives' behest.”
While the ejection of two young and new voters is deplorable enough, it seems the real story here is the fact that the RCMP was acting in a political capacity by removing them at the Conservatives' behest.”
A Dartmouth volunteer who helps homeless veterans was turned away from a Stephen Harper election rally last week and the man calls it a slap in the face to those who have been injured in service of their country.
On Thursday, Jim Lowther and fellow veterans advocate Gary Zwicker went to the Halterm container pier on the Halifax waterfront hoping to get a few minutes with Harper, or at least to watch his speech. But a Conservative staffer in a suit and tie denied them entry at the gate.
http://nor-re.blogspot.com/2011/04/man-of-people.html
When a candidate for the position of Prime-minister wont take questions and restricts attendance to his already limited 'photo ops' we must ask is this the sort of man and the party we want to lead the country into the digital age of open and accessible information. Can we believe ANYTHING he says when he was previously elected on a platform of 'open and accessible' government?
UPDATE 6 Apr 2011Another university student says she was barred from a Conservative event with Prime Minister Stephen Harper — this time because of her environmental activism.
Joanna MacDonald, a fourth-year environmental sciences student at Guelph University, says she pre-registered for Harper's election campaign event at the school Monday. But after arriving with a friend, MacDonald says she was directed to a desk where she was told her name had been flagged and she was asked to leave..............
MacDonald was told the RCMP was doing the screening for the Conservative party event and since she has no criminal record — nor any political party affiliation for that matter — she demanded to know why she was being flagged.
An unidentified official eventually told her it was likely because she had participated with the Sierra youth coalition on climate change at the Cancun conference last December.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/federal-election/national/student-says-environmental-activism-barred-her-from-harper-campaign-event-119294134.html
3 comments:
We also think that this is a central issue in the campaign. The issues of transparency and open government are related to political accountability, and respect for the rule of law, all of which should be the key issue in assessing the Conservative party's record in government. Check out our thoughts at http://thewrit2011.blogspot.com
Does it matter? Canadians don't care. We are a TV nation succumbing to commercials and the Liberals are too late with too little. There is no more politics. It's all about the Benjamins. We are a nation of money not governance. Put a pizza in the oven because we have lost.
@Jymn
If as you say “Canadians dont care”, and I do not believe that for one moment, then we are indeed 'lost'. I believe Canadians DO care but are being stymied by the lack of viable choices and the vulgarities of our antiquated 'first past the post' electoral system.
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