Rumour has it that Harper is planning a cabinet shuffle on Friday. This wasn’t unexpected, given that Jay Hill announced he won’t be running again, and any soon-to-be retiring cabinet ministers tend to get shuffled out in this government. But the rumour that Shelly Glover, Canada’s Most Intellectually Bankrupt MP might be getting Status of Women? That one frightens me. I can scarcely imagine the kinds of tortured logic she’ll trot out as Harper’s mouthpiece on that file, while asserting authority because she’s a police officer (and not a retired one either).
The Conservatives’ political message of the day was to announce that they’re tightening some lobbying loopholes. Libby Davies responded immediately after, saying she’s glad they made the move, but thinks they can go further, like putting the onus on public office holders to declare when someone lobbies their offices.
Stephen Harper emerged from hiding yesterday to hold his party’s summer caucus meeting. He invited the media in for his opening speech, which was basically a highlight reel – G8! Hu Jintao! The Queen! New Governor General appointed! And is it just me, but does basing your performance on who’s come to visit sound a bit like social climbing or keeping up appearances? Just wondering…
The government’s own polls show that Canadians care more about the earthquake in Haiti than they do about crime in this country. Not that it’s going to cause the government to throw out all their talking points and start from scratch.
And speaking of talking points, a national survey shows that the government’s tightly controlled messaging frustrates the public. About time somebody said something. When confronted with this fact, Treasury Board president Stockwell Day said he’d consider loosening some of the restrictions on the public service from answering requests. I have little doubt that he’ll consider it – and then reject it, because gags and tightly controlled messages are what this government is all about.
The official media arm of The Party has not only decided that “populist” journalism apparently means doing nothing but commissioning polls (seriously – their reporters go to press conferences now to get quotes on their latest poll), but they’re also providing the government with tomorrow’s talking points today. This edition – only half of people would tell the truth on the census! It won’t be valid data anyway! Just like with the Jedi Knights! (Erm, no, but thanks for playing.)
PS – I stumbled across this gem, which shows what the anti-feminist group REAL Women thinks of the trans rights bill. It’s a shocking reminder of what kinds of things are being said about the community.
Why you can trust Xtra
