The official media arm of The Party is doing its best to keep everyone’s attention off this government’s bad census decision, and instead on keeping the moral panic about the Tamil refugee claimants alive, with editorial headlines like “We’ve been duped,” and articles citing “secret government reports” that say Tamil refugees go back to Sri Lanka for the holidays. You know, because they’re all bogus and stuff.
Except when you put those figures into context – like Kady O’Malley did. She talked to CBSA, whose “secret report” this is, and as it turns out, it’s not even a report. It was a review of a sampling of 50 files, which has no statistical weighting or validity, and that “no conclusions should be reached on the comments/observations made on this file” because it can’t be considered anything more than anecdotal in nature. But hey – secret government report that demonstrates that these claimants are all bogus and stuff makes for sexier headlines and distracts from the real issues at play. Oh, and of course, the official media arm of The Party is doing the PMO’s bidding in peddling in fear, but what else is new?
This week’s Maclean’s has the article you need to read about how the RCMP was this close to publicly endorsing Insite and the work it does in Vancouver, before orders came from Ottawa that they were to desist. This government’s aversion to harm reduction is reaching disturbing levels.
On the topic of the RCMP, the former watchdog says the plans for the new, revamped RCMP watchdog agency will be basically toothless. But isn’t that the way this government prefers its watchdogs? Also, RCMP commissioner William Elliott won’t take a position on the long-gun registry (possibly because Stephen Harper wouldn’t like that), while a conference of national police chiefs will hear the report that is supportive of the registry before making it public.
Meanwhile, gun control lobbyists are calling out NDP leader Jack Layton on the upcoming vote on the long-gun registry, even as Layton says that his party won’t be to blame if the bill passes (even though it’s down to his MPs who will see whether or not it passes).
The Green Party was debating decriminalizing polygamy at its convention in Toronto last weekend, but proponents were quick to draw a distinction between their definition of polygamy and what is practised in the radical Mormon sect in Bountiful, BC. Elizabeth May was opposed to the motion, but pointed out that hey, it’s an open and democratic party, so by all means, debate it.
And finally, a poll commissioned by the official media arm of The Party declares the Liberal Express tour a failure – even though the poll was done when the tour was a mere three weeks old, and reported three weeks later, with another three weeks to go in the tour. But this is balanced reporting, everyone!
Why you can trust Xtra
