What is he hidding?

C

Cobalt_Kid

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Feb 3, 2007
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Free access to information is an essential part of any democratic system, without objective information it's impossible for the electorate to make free choices. In an environment where the flow of information is highly controlled the results reflect how well the subjective views of individuals and parties are communicated.

Our PM is one of the most secretive and manipulative of the press in our history, just what is the purpose of concealing so much by Stephen Harper and his government?

Neil Macdonald: Harper no Obama when it comes to dealing with scandals - Politics - CBC News

A cursory search of the public record by CBC News turned up only five full-fledged Harper news conferences in the past six years.

Now that Harper has a majority government, he doesn't appear to bother at all with wide-open sessions with reporters; the last one we could find was in 2009.

The prime minister does allow some short question-and-answer sessions in which he will take a couple of quick queries, and he does grant interviews. But again, these are only a tiny fraction of the presidential average.

And when he doesn't like questions on a particular subject, he just ignores them, no matter how much the Canadian public would appear to want explanations.

Take his response to the mounting questions about the resignation of his chief of staff and the expense controversies surrounding former Conservative senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin.
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Early in this affair, when Duffy's expense claims began to look questionable, Harper supported him. When Duffy announced, disingenuously it turned out, that he would reimburse the public to the tune of $90,000, Harper stood in the Commons to praise the senator's "leadership."

Then, when it emerged eight days ago that Harper's own chief of staff, Nigel Wright, had paid the bill, and much more serious questions arose over the circumstances of the payment, Harper simply went silent.

He remained mute when Duffy was forced out of the Conservative caucus, and when Senator Wallin followed her colleague the next day.

On the weekend, when the chief of staff himself resigned, Harper issued a short written statement expressing regret. Again, no substantive answers to what was becoming a deafening uproar of questions.
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It's inappropriate for any PM to act as if he's not accountable to anyone.

Finally, on Tuesday, the PM appeared before his caucus to address the matter and, exceptionally, reporters were allowed in to record his remarks.

Harper's only direct comment on the matter: "I'm not happy, I'm very upset, about some [of the] conduct we have witnessed. The conduct of some parliamentarians and the conduct of my own office."

He then launched into a self-congratulatory speech about his government's "accountability," taking a shot at Liberal party ethics for good measure.

When reporters began yelling questions, Harper ignored them, a smile fixed on his face, while party officials had them kicked out of the room.
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It truly appears as if everything the PM does is staged, just who is the real Stephen Harper, we are almost certainly not getting an objective view of the man who is making such important decisions about our future.

Compared to Obama who takes questions of scandal head on, Harper just dodges the issue with the expectation his political machine will spin it into oblivion over time as it has done throughout his mandate.

By contrast, Harper largely ignored questions from reporters on many of the controversies that have dogged his government in recent years, like the robocall allegations from the 2011 election and the electoral rule-breaking and subsequent resignation of Labrador cabinet minister Peter Penashue.

Harper does respond to questions from opposition leaders in Parliament, something Obama cannot do with Congress.

But Harper's answers, in the tradition of that venue, are often more combative than substantive.

After his brief remarks about the Senate scandal in caucus, Harper left for a trade mission to Peru, where he did take two questions from reporters yesterday during a joint press conference with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.
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darkbeaver

darkbeaver

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The whole article is a piece of rubbish it even went so far as to suggest there was structural difference between the American meat puppet and the Canadian prime meat puppet, like Obama wasn't the worlds leading scandal covering lying banker mouthpiece on earth. Harpers an aspiring water boy. Oh and the reminder that we are a democracy was dried snot.
 
C

Cobalt_Kid

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Feb 3, 2007
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Are we really well served by a PM who's attitude seems to be, "catch me if you can".

Harper is our version of the Teflon Don, John Gotti, he's really skilled at keeping a distance from all the illegal/immoral stuff being done for his benefit. Ultimately Harper is responsible for what his government is doing. Hiding behind his position is just wrong, it also indicates a pretty profound lack of respect for Canadians.
 
L Gilbert

L Gilbert

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Cobalt_Kid said:
Are we really well served by a PM who's attitude seems to be, "catch me if you can".

Harper is our version of the Teflon Don, John Gotti, he's really skilled at keeping a distance from all the illegal/immoral stuff being done for his benefit. Ultimately Harper is responsible for what his government is doing. Hiding behind his position is just wrong, it also indicates a pretty profound lack of respect for Canadians.
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Yep. Typical of most politicians ........ of any political flavor.
 
C

Cobalt_Kid

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Feb 3, 2007
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L Gilbert said:
Yep. Typical of most politicians ........ of any political flavor.
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I don't agree, Harper has taken the lack of transparency to a whole new level in Canada and is miles behind US Presidents including Bush who allowed far more access to the press. Harper wants to operate in an information bubble like he's at war with the rest of Canada. We're supposed to hold our elected officials accountable, not be treated as the enemy by them.
 
gerryh

gerryh

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JLM said:
What the hell is "hidding"?
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It's already been answered. Try having someone read the thread to you slowly.

DaSleeper said:
The fixation is Directly proportional to the number of threads one Starts on a subject ...

Clear enough?
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I would also add that the fixation on a particular poster is directly proportional to the number of empty posts criticizing said poster and having nothing to do with the OP at hand.
 
L Gilbert

L Gilbert

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Cobalt_Kid said:
I don't agree,
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That's fine, but you're a bit partisan. In my observations, partisans tend to have blinders on concerning whichever party and its members they prefer and tend to go out of their way to show opposing parties and their members in the worst possible light, sometimes even inventing stuff or contorting facts and contexts. Subjectivity and prejudice aren't always good things.
About information and transparency; it sure doesn't look like Harpy has been able to "hide" anything. And as I pointed out a while back, stuff he's done like ditching the CAIRS didn't mean people can't access info. It just means that people have to get access through other methods. And that suggests that ditching CAIRS was a budget cutback rather than anything else.
 
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