The Harper government used a pervasive message-control tool to persuade Canadians their foremost purpose in Afghanistan was building schools and fostering democracy rather than waging a war that was turning bloodier by the day.
An investigation by The Canadian Press shows the Conservatives systematically drafted “Message Event Proposals” as part of a quiet campaign to persuade Canadians their country was primarily engaged in development work to rebuild a shattered nation rather than hunting down and killing an emboldened insurgency.
The government used MEPs literally to script the words it wanted to hear from the mouths of its top diplomats, aid workers and cabinet ministers in 2007-2008 to divert public attention from the soaring double-digit death toll of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
While the message was being massaged in Ottawa, the reconstituted Taliban unleashed a fresh wave of attacks on NATO troops and Kandaharis.
“Desired soundbite: ‘Canada's mission in Afghanistan is refocusing its mission towards development, reconstruction and diplomatic efforts,’” says an MEP prepared by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing that serves the Prime Minister's Office.
The document, among hundreds of MEPs obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, was prepared for a 2008 media tour by Arif Lalani, then the Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan.
Other records show the government scripted an identical set of quotes and talking points for two returning aid workers who were giving interviews about their “personal perspective” on progress in Afghanistan.
The government also tried to soft-pedal deployment of the first group of Quebec-based troops in 2007 by giving them a “compassionate” sendoff designed to “showcase the achievements in development.”
“That was clearly what the message was – Afghanistan is about development, CIDA, building schools, building roads, helping Afghans, which is all good stuff ... but not necessarily to the exclusion of reality,” said a senior government official who worked in the PCO but asked not to be named because of fears of career reprisals.
Nothing is new about a wartime government trying to mould public opinion. But for the first time, documents detail the process, in this case, how the Harper government attempted to shape perceptions of Canada's fiercest combat mission since the Korean War.
The Conservatives introduced the MEP, a relatively new information-management tool, and it enables Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office to control a wide array of government communication. Federal departments are required to submit proposals to the PCO for public events and responses to media inquiries. The PMO decides what can occur and what should be said.
A PCO spokeswoman has defended MEPs as a tool for communication. The Prime Minister's Office has declined comment.
The strategy doesn't sit well with Nipa Banerjee, who headed Canada's aid program in Kabul from 2003 to 2006 before the Canadian Forces moved to Kandahar.
“It bothers me a bit now because I think we were used politically at that time,” said Prof. Banerjee, a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa graduate school of public and international affairs.
In May, 2008, with 83 soldiers and one diplomat dead, Mr. Lalani returned to Canada for a four-day blitz aimed at reshaping the public's view of the war.
A three-page MEP prepared by the PCO outlined 10 sets of possible interviews that Mr. Lalani could give May 26-30 with major television, radio and print organizations across the country.
CTV's Sunday political talk show Question Period topped the list.
“This appearance would serve to move the national narrative forward beyond the parliamentary arena and refocus Canadians’ interest in Canada's civilian efforts in Afghanistan, emphasizing development, reconstruction and diplomacy efforts,” the MEP says.
