An MP's Sunday afternoon visit to a seniors' home. The federal purchase of powerful new military aircraft. A journalism student's innocuous query about Africa.
One thing connects them all — the Conservative government scripted each event using a potent but little-known communication tool called the Message Event Proposal.
The Canadian Press has obtained almost 1,000 pages of MEPs from several government departments, including the Privy Council Office, under the Access to Information Act. The PCO, the bureaucratic nerve centre of Ottawa, has been conscripted by an increasingly powerful Prime Minister's Office to vet requests for public events across the federal government.
We discussed every single issue and micromanaged every news release — everything.— Former Harper-era PCO official
The MEPs have blurred the time-honoured separation of non-partisan public servants and political staffers and sidelined seasoned government communicators, sapping morale across the civil service.
They have become the political tool for literally putting words in the mouths of cabinet ministers, federal bureaucrats, low-profile MPs on the barbecue circuit, and seasoned diplomats abroad.
“Your authorization is sought for President Greenhill to respond to questions ... during the press conference,” reads one MEP prepared by the Canadian International Development Agency asking the PCO to allow its then-president, Robert Greenhill, to speak at a high-level United Nations panel.
The MEP is the crucial communication instrument for a minority government that values staying on message above all else — a transformation that federal officials and public-policy analysts say is undermining democracy.
While all governments try to control the message, the ambitious sweep of MEPs is unprecedented in federal politics. Critics say it contradicts the core campaign promise that brought Prime Minister Stephen Harper to power — introducing a new era of transparency and accountability in government.
“We discussed every single issue and micromanaged every news release — everything,” said one former Harper-era PCO official.
“Pretty much any event, or any rollout of an announcement, would have an MEP that would lay out the strategy.”
The identities of senior sources who have worked at PCO and other departments are not being revealed because they fear retribution from their political masters.
The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on this story.
Political scientist Jonathan Rose of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., says the MEP is worrisome because it erases the traditional line separating public servants and politicians.
“You've got bureaucrats who are doing the government's partisan work and also political staffers who are doing bureaucrats' work. So there's this huge blurring of lines between the two.”
A review of hundreds of MEPs spanning several years reveals the vast sweep of control exerted by the Harper government.
They have been used to orchestrate almost everything from the rollout of billion-dollar purchases of military aircraft to the donation of a few thousand dollars to a community group.
An MEP template typically includes the following subtitles: Event, Event type, Desired headline, Key messages, Media lines, Strategic objectives, Desired soundbite, Ideal speaking backdrop, Ideal event photograph, Tone, Attire, Rollout materials, Background, and Strategic considerations.
Senior government sources have detailed how these documents are shuffled back and forth between public servants and their political masters before reaching the PMO.
Public servants in various federal departments begin the time-consuming process by completing the template to request an event or other communication. The MEP then crosses into the political realm, where it's vetted by a minister's office.
Then, it once again crosses lines, back to the public service, where it's reviewed by the PCO. Harper's office — the ultimate political authority — has the final say.
In some cases, MEPs for routine events — spending announcements in particular — have often been quickly approved. But in most cases, Harper's office is where MEPs go to die with no explanation, sources say.
