How Harper seized control of pipeline and health-care debates

How Harper seized control of pipeline and health-care debates

Building a storyline that sticks helped the Conservatives sink two successive Liberal leaders and they are using the same strategy early in 2012 on a pair of major policy debates facing Canadians.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's team has attempted to leap out in front of its opponents and shape the narrative on the hot-button issues of health-care funding and oil pipeline construction.

When Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver came out guns blazing over “environmental and other radical groups” and foreign interests who he said were trying to hijack the domestic debate, discussion immediately shifted away from the very concerns environmental groups have been voicing.

Critics and stakeholders were left struggling to poke holes in the government's logic – the involvement of Chinese interests in the process, for example – rather than leading the debate themselves. Jim Armour, a vice-president at Ottawa public relations firm Summa and a former communications director for Mr. Harper, says the government cannily played a Canadian sovereignty card.

“I think by making this about foreign interests, U.S. money, not allowing ourselves to be held hostage by the U.S, the government's been very smart and been able not only to take advantage of an opportunity, but also take advantage of something Canadians are thinking anyway,” Mr. Armour said.

On the issue of federal health-care funding for the provinces, Mr. Harper caught the premiers flat-footed. Without warning or consultation, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a new formula for health transfers into the future. Then, Mr. Harper really put the premiers on defence as he rejected their baleful, uncoordinated pleas for additional funds.

As they began a first ministers meeting this week, they were left reacting to Mr. Harper rather than setting the agenda for the debate themselves. “I think it was incredibly well handled. The federal government and Minister Flaherty pretty well took health care off the agenda before any of the health stakeholders or even the provinces got to the table,” Mr. Armour said.

“If it was a bar fight, it was all over before anyone got their coat off.”

Ottawa lobbyist Geoff Norquay, who also once worked for Mr. Harper, agrees.

“[It] completely sidestepped everybody's expected narrative, and everybody's expectations as to how this particular issue would play out, and over many years,” Mr. Norquay said, noting Mr. Harper put the division of provincial-federal powers front and centre in the discussion.

The communications strategy bears some similarity to how the Conservatives handled the more strictly political issue of how to critically maim their opposition opponents.

Former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion was hobbled by the “Not a Leader” ad campaign, and his successor Michael Ignatieff was never able to recover from the “Just Visiting” motto that labelled him an arrogant dilettante. Those portraits were painted by an ad campaign funded by the formidable Conservative Party war chest before Mr. Dion or Mr. Ignatieff ever had a chance to make their own first impressions on voters.

Mr. Armour says the Conservatives have put three main principles at the centre of their communications strategy: message discipline, acting on insight and opportunity.

The message control has been well documented. The insight comes from properly reading and analyzing the landscape and the players, and the opportunity is the moment that presents itself to act.

Mr. Harper's summit next week with Canada's first-nations leaders will be another big communications challenge for the Conservatives on a complex, sensitive policy issue.

Unlike with the pipeline and health-care funding stories, Mr. Harper was forced to react defensively to the crisis in Attawapiskat after it exploded in the media. The unified message that emerged from government was that it was dealing quickly with financial mismanagement on the reserve.

Human-rights lawyer Paul Champ, who represents some first-nations communities, said that despite some key underlying facts about Attawapiskat, the Tories managed to shape the story about the situation. “Even those Canadians who don't see themselves as being racist or having racist stereotypes, I think the are definitely susceptible to that frame that first nations mismanage money, or that first-nations bands are irresponsible or are wasting money,” Mr. Champ said.

“I think those are regrettably very deeply rooted stereotypes in Canada. This government played on that.”

How Harper seized control of pipeline and health-care debates - The Globe and Mail

So, you're saying that it's better to let eco-lobbies funded by large corporate US interests shape Canada's national policy?

So, you're saying that that it's better to shoot people in the face with oil-loaded shotguns?

lol

Of course I'm not saying that.

I just posted the article.

No.. What I'm saying is that you should oil your shotgun with refined product from the oilsands such that you don't experience a blinding back-fire.

Safety first



You don't have anything to say on this issue then? You just like to post one side of an argument, but have nothing of substance to personally contribute?

... Sounds about right.

The article is correct - Harper has been able to control these issues.

Thanks to Harper.....He won't have to register that shotgun

How would you know 'what sounds right'?

You have never, ever considered the other side of this issue.

Woo Hoo!

Sounds like it may be a good time to saddle-up and clear the pipeline path with a 6-shooter and Remington.

The thing with this strategy is that it is a short-term trick to fool the public based on stereotypes. It pretty much exemplifies why conservatism hasn't swept Canada, and why the shenanigan sensationalism of conservatives is as obvious to the layperson as calling all environmentalists radicals.

Ethical oil was debunked as a false ideology and the Northern gateway project is still subject to a clash of values.

And the things that have been passed, like the omnibus bill, the gun registry and his commentary on single-citizenship are simply playing to the existing base of voters.

So, while I think Harper makes good on these initial opportunities, he hasn't really unified the country or made long-lasting decisions.

There is still considerable opposition by a significant portion of the population.

A picture of all the pipelines now crisscrossing the U S.....some of them quite old...

And a more modern one with all the newest safety regulations will present more danger????

I say Bull****.....

Are we talking about Harper or Obama?

Is this a reference to the eco-strategy of promoting lies and half-truths?

CBC (I know, I can't believe it either) recently aired a show interviewing a Canadian woman that researched the funding sources of the eco-lobbies that operate in Canada. CRA and IRS documents showed that the bulk of the cash originated from a select number of US-based organizations and corporate entities.

So, what was that again about sensationalism and shenanigans?

The first thing that leaps into the fray is AGW... It would appear that as everyday goes by, more and more folks are canceling their subscription to this theory.

But back to debunking ethical oil, am I to understand that those oil exporting nations that experienced Arab Spring, you know, those countries that are bastions of freedom, tolerance and general good-will didn't erupt in civil war?

I wonder how the gvts over there bought all of the weapons used to slaughter their own people?


I can't think of any Canadian PM that has been able to unify Canada.

Can you?

Is this thread about the lies of others, or the methods of Harper's control?

Is this thread about the sensationalism and shenanigans of others or the methods of Harper's control?

The oil itself is not ethical. It's an object.

Just as a gun as it exists on its own is not an ethical or unethical instrument. It is simply an object.

But if you're referring to this idea that we should only be selling our oil to ethical nations, then you've already casted your vote against Northern Gateway.

You seem to have a hard one for Harper thesse days

After all, it's Obama canceling a line that had been previously approved that started the whole thing???

Any discussion relative to the incumbent issues MUST incorporate all of the relevant information.

Harper's actions are all r-e-l-e-t-i-v-e to the entire scope of issue(s).

Oil is an object, just like the money used to buy arms. Guns and ammunition are not 'ethical instruments' either, it is the manner in which they are employed that determines whether the actions involving those weapons was ethical or not.

The ethical oil argument is founded on the notion that in purchasing oil from jurisdictions that have severe human rights violations, you are monetizing the opportunity to promote further unethical actions.

You don't think selling oil to those countries also has a detrimental effect since we're supporting their regimes?

I'm quite shocked that this is coming from the "everyone needs oil to support their civilization" guy.

It has far less impact taking cash away from the opportunity to buy arms than to give money in exchange for the oil and fund the purchase of weapons... Can you agree on this?

As for the civilization comment. We do need it to maintain our respective societies in our contemporary manner.

Until the day comes where the tech replaces oil, it is the only commercially viable option that we have.

Contemporary is subjective as we do not know exactly what level of support for another country we should provide by engaging in trade.

What is true, however, is that it is still hypocrisy to claim exporting one drop of oil to an inhumane regime is completely unethical, but importing is ethical. In pipeline terms, if we were averse to buying oil from Saudi Arabia or China, then we should also be averse to sending them oil because we are still supporting that regime.

It takes an extra step of logical effort to comprehend this fact, but Harper is capitalizing on people who don't put much thought into it. And because there are a lot of people (who coincidentally are also voters) that don't take the time to get to this second layer of critical thought, Harper is trying to run away with the short term sell.

Contemporary is contemporary.

That said, will you be the one to determine what form of embargo that we assume towards the peoples of another nation?

Are you purposefully inverting this issue because you can't make an argument that providing cash to human rights violators goes to buying weapons?

Think r-e-l-a-t-i-v-i-t-y here.

Sounds like AGW to me.

No, but you haven't addressed the ethical hypocrisy. I'll assume you submit to this one then.

Yes, we know you have a problem getting over your ethical relativism.

Case in point.

Your typical response; duck and weave and keep on pretending.

Anyone scrolling through this thread can see that "duck and weave and keep on pretending" is a typical response.. but not coming from me, lol

Correction:

YOUR typical response.

Say, did you ever go to google maps and take a look at the satellite pics around Smithers, BC?.. It's a pretty depressing scene - kinda moonscape in a way.

How about it MF? Here is some direct evidence of enviro impacts that you could sink your teeth into, so maybe think about taking a look; if not for yourself, do it for Gaia, do it for Suzuki

What does Smithers' existing state have to do with the production of this pipeline?

Looks to me like the Feds have the right idea.

Just gonna put this here...NOT saying I agree with it.. but we can discuss this civilly..


Friends with Benefits: The Harper Government, EthicalOil.org and Sun Media Connection

Just over a week before the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings began, EthicalOil.org and its allies launched a pre-emptive PR offensive on environmental and First Nations groups who oppose the pipeline. Their new website, OurDecision.ca, and -- are an attempt to invalidate opposition to the pipeline by pointing to the small amount of American funding going to some environmental groups, and claiming that --

Sun News was first to --, and by the end of the week, numerous papers across Canada were repeating the story. After mentioning last November that -- would line up against the pipeline, Stephen Harper eagerly picked up where he left off, touting EthicalOil.org's cause, decrying the -- the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Review. By Monday, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver had penned -- denouncing the foreign interests trying to “hijack” the review process "to achieve their radical ideological agenda". The same ominous tone and divisive talking points were parroted over and over by EthicalOil.org, Harper, Oliver and the credulous media, driving an entire week of news coverage.

The OurDecision.ca campaign was timed to hit national news just as many Canadians were tuning into this issue for the first time, and this frame (“foreign interests” vs. a “Canadian decision”) could have a lasting impact on how people view one of the most important debates in a generation.

So how did a small industry front group with secretive funding sources manage to have so much impact on the national conversation? Well, it looks like the Harper government, EthicalOil.org, and Sun Media have coordinated with one another to create an -- that turns industry talking points into national news. We'll show how one digital communications company intimately connects EthicalOil.org, the Harper Government and Sun Media.

Ethical Oil Echo Chamber

The 'ethical oil' echo chamber was built in 2010, after the release of Ezra Levant's book of the same name. As -- writes, Sun papers prominently featured three excerpts from Levant's book, giving it national exposure. Through a series of articles and appearances in Sun-owned papers, the National Post and right wing talk shows, an echo chamber of voices amplified the 'ethical oil' message. Then came bloggers like Alykhan Velshi, who helped to turn Levant's book into the ethicaloil.org website, and before long it reached the mouths of politicians.

From Gutstein's perspective, ideas often take years to percolate through public opinion filters before they end up on national policy agendas. But in this case, it appears that industry and government synced up messaging very rapidly.

Go NewClear

Last week, we reported an -- with oil interests, the Harper government, and other conservative leaders and groups. At the centre is --, a Vancouver-based digital communications agency with a focus on public affairs and politics. An analysis of the web server hosting of gonewclearproductions.com reveals an intricate network of over 50 websites connected primarily to the Conservative Party of Canada, the Wildrose Alliance Party, EthicalOil.org, and other right wing causes and politicians.

Go Newclear’s President and COO is --, the husband of current Ethical Oil spokesperson Kathryn Marshall, and a former Conservative campaigner, former PMO staffer and Conservative strategist deeply connected to oil interests. The other two principals in the company have deep connections to the Harper government as well.

One of the principals, --, worked as a website administrator for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition from August 2005-February 2006. Following Harper's election, he worked as the special assistant for the Prime Minister from February 2006-November 2007. Jones then moved to the Conservative Resources Group, or --an agency responsible for developing political communication products, branding and marketing decisions and liaising between the federal Conservative caucus and Prime Minister’s Office, until 2009. In that role, he was a television and radio specialist. The third principal of Go Newclear, --, is still listed with the Conservative Resources Group.

Now that we know that EthicalOil.org and the Conservative government are deeply connected, what about the other part of the Conservative echo chamber, Sun Media?

Digital fingerprints

A follow-up analysis of the network neighborhood around the Go Newclear server revealed some amazing coincidences. Almost right beside their -- is another server that hosts suntvnews.ca, suntvnewchannel.ca, suntvnewschannel.com, suntvnewschannel.net and suntvnewschannel.org. The IP addresses for these servers are different by only two numbers, and it is highly likely they are sitting right next to each other.

Deepclimate notes some -- between the websites. In addition, an analysis of many of the websites either currently or previously on the neighboring servers shows a number of striking similarities at the code level including naming conventions and comment style.Of particular interest is the CSS Reset. The sites we have analyzed use the exact same derivative of --.

--, --, --, --, --, the -- -- website, Amerians4OPEC.com, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, PierreMP.ca, and -- contain the same CSS Reset.

Go Newclear's -- also has the same CSS Reset on his personal website.

The websites of --, --, --, --, --, --, -- and -- also have the same CSS Reset, and are all listed as authored by Newclear.

As Evan Leeson, the Principal of Catalyst Internet (which is DeSmogBlog's IT team) and a 19 year veteran of website development writes:

Developers have their bag of reusable tricks to make coding efficient. In this case, all of these sites use precisely the same CSS reset - same elements, same formatting, down to the character. Many sites will use something similar to this one, but this is exact. It's even used on Newclear's own custom home page. It is highly likely the same developer did all these sites.

Connecting the Dots

At the time of the website registration, -- was ----'s director of communications. He had been the-- of the Conservative Caucus Research Bureau while Jones worked there.

On March 30, 2009, Prime Minister --. The meeting did not appear on Harper's itinerary, and was intended to be secret, according to --. The pair were joined by the President of Fox News (and legendary Republican communications expert), Roger Ailes, and Kory Teneycke.

Within four months of this meeting, Kory Teneycke took a contract with Quebecor to explore the creation of a new Canadian media outlet. Then, ten months later, Quebecor launched Sun Media. Teneycke is now the vice president of the Sun News Network.

This new information sheds some new light on this meeting, and provokes a few fundamental questions. Why does a website for our new conservative-leaning media institution, dubbed "Fox News North," appear to have a direct link to government staffers? On whose orders were these websites created by Go Newclear? Were any of these orders from government? From oil companies?

It's time for the media to ask some hard questions about the relationships that are powering the EthicalOil.org echo chamber.


Emma Pullman | Friends with Benefits: The Harper Government, EthicalOil.org and Sun Media Connection