1. Worth a thousand (unkind) words. As the Hill buzzes about the new spate of political attack ads from the NDP and Tories, a high-profile communications consultant is warning Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals to resist temptation and ignore the now-infamous shot of Bev Oda smoking behind Centre Block.
Media guru Barry McLoughlin writes on his blog that “it may be well seen as a low blow” to incorporate the unflattering pictures of the International Co-operation Minister – cigarette hanging from her mouth, her eyes hidden by dark glasses while smoke billows around her head – in any upcoming Liberal ads.
He warns that Ms. Oda has been recovering from retina surgery, hence the shades. And so using the picture could “backfire on the party that is tempted to use it.”
“Shades of Jean ‘I can’t help it. God made this way’ Chrétien in his clever response to a PC campaign commercial in 1993 which seemed to focus on his disfigured face,” Mr. McLoughlin added.
He was referring to Tory attack ads that ran – briefly, before being pulled down because of the angry reaction from not only Liberals but Canadians – during the final piece of Kim Campbell’s 1993 campaign. They featured close-up still pictures of then-opposition leader Jean Chrétien’s face, with voice commentary from so-called ordinary Canadians, including one who said, “I would be embarrassed if he became Prime Minister of Canada.”
The ads appeared to focus on Mr. Chrétien’s facial deformity (he suffered from Bell’s palsy). As a result, they totally backfired on the Tories – especially after Mr. Chrétien’s comments that he can’t help the way he looks. Ms. Campbell lost her Vancouver riding and the Conservatives were reduced to a two-seat rump in the Commons.
2. Out of sight, out of mind? Bob Rae, the Liberal MP from Toronto, provided the best scrum line Monday when asked by reporters after Question Period about the Bev Oda affair.
“Well, she’s – look, I mean she’s getting full pay as a minister. She’s still got her car. She’s still got her driver. She’s still got all of her staff. And she’s not able to do her job. I mean we have the ridiculous thing of a government saying how much confidence they have in Bev Oda and she sits there like she’s in some kind of a witness protection program. It’s preposterous,” he said.
Ms. Oda was under fire again during the first Question Period since MPs returned from their week-long break over allegations she doctored a signed document. So far, Government House Leader John Baird is speaking on her behalf.
And House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken is still considering whether or not Ms. Oda breached the privileges of MPs in her explanation of how the word “not” was inserted into CIDA memo recommending funding for a church-backed aid group.
3. Fair and balanced. While politicians and pundits bemoan the deterioration of debate here in Canada, a member of one of America’s most prominent political families says “political dialogue in Canada is marked by civility, modesty, honesty, collegiality and idealism.”
That observation comes from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., writing in the Huffington Post about the fact the CRTC has decided not to change a regulation that prohibits the dissemination of false or misleading news.
“The provision has kept Fox News and right wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom,” he writes.
And he takes several shots at Stephen Harper. The Prime Minister is described as a “George W. Bush’s Mini Me” and Mr. Kennedy asserts Mr. Harper is known for “having mounted a Bush like war on government scientists, data collectors, transparency, and enlightenment in general.”
He was arguing that Mr. Harper had wanted to repeal the law to “facilitate the launch of a new rightwing network” – referring, of course, to Quebecor’s Sun TV News venture.
“Harper’s attempts to make lying legal on Canadian television is a stark admission that right wing political ideology can only dominate national debate through dishonest propaganda.”
