Transparency, clarity, keys to democracy
With Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government doing extremely well in the polls, Canadians appear pleased with the way things are going in Ottawa. It is obvious that a change from the Chrétien-Martin Liberal era was overdue, the sponsorship scandal being the Achilles heel that leveled the behemoth of our so-called natural governing party.
And who did much of the spade work that unearthed some of the Liberal dirt? Why the press in Ottawa. In particular, award-winning Daniel Leblanc of the Globe & Mail. Who did the investigative reporting that led to Shawinigate, hastening Jean Chrétien's departure? Much of the credit goes to Andrew McIntosh, then with the National Post in Ottawa.
The most industrious and skilled reporters of the Ottawa media were doing their job: they were acting as the eyes and ears of the taxpaying and voting public. Their work certainly hastened the arrival of the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.
It is therefore illogical and plain wrong of Harper to claim late last month that he is having problems with media that a Liberal prime minster would not have to face. And it indicates a thin-skinned side of his character that is worrisome.
Two dozen Ottawa reporters walked out on a Harper event last month after he refused to take their questions. Harper does not want to hold press conferences unless his staff gets to pick which journalists ask questions.
The result of all this is that the better informed and more critical reporters would not get the access they deserve. Mr. prime minister: the media are not there to parrot your messages into our news pages and broadcast reports. The public needs and expects critical and informed analysis, background, and context. That can only come from free-wheeling access to you in regular news conferences where the best of the national press corps get to ask questions, as they have always done.
Harper's petulant response to a healthy challenge from the media is in marked contrast to the direct and decisive way his minority government has acted in some controversial areas. Extending our armed forces commitment in Afghanistan by two years and the risky call for a free vote on same-sex marriage are cases in point. These and other issues call for vigorous debate nurtured by information from a responsibly critical and well informed media with regular access to the nation's leader. It would be wise for Harper to revise this vindictive move to manipulate the way the national media get to ask questions at what should be regular news conferences. An unfettered national media is a keystone of our democracy.
