October 13, 2003
The liberal bias against the Ontario Progressive Conservative party certainly didn’t end after the Tories were soundly trounced by the Liberals on October 2. Then again, it would have been surprising if it had. For example, a reporterette on Toronto’s 680 News radio, the all-liberal news station, couldn’t resist taking a post-election swipe at the defeated government. Reporting on Premier Ernie Eves’ final cabinet meeting, she said that some of the cabinet ministers were "whining". Although the moods of the ministers who were interviewed ranged from sounding cheerful to being unhappy campers, none of the comments that were aired could be classified as "whining".
Constrast this with the mainstream media’s love affair with NDP leader Howard Hampton. Howie has done absolutely nothing since the election results came in, other than whine about his party’s standings in the polls. He whined about the fact that the NDP’s seven seats do not qualify for party status and practically begged incoming premier Dalton McGuinty to lower the bar. Then he whined again about his party’s seats being less than the percentage of the popular vote, as if no other party in the history of the world has ever been in that position. Then he did a whine about proportional representation and then acted like the still premier-designate McGuinty should make that change, a priority. He whined and whined and when he was finished doing that, he whined some more.
Yet all the media ever says about, other than speculating about who might get his job, is about what a great campaign he ran. It’s true that he did very well in the televised debate and he took the high road, avoiding discussions of kitten-eaters, reptilian or otherwise. But his campaign was hardly the glorious event that the media are portraying.
The NDP claims as one of its core constituencies, the poor and the marginalized. Well, those of the poor who have housing are almost exclusively renters. Their hydro bills are included in their rent and their concern is the absence of rent controls on their accommodations. It’s a safe bet to assume if a person who struggles to live day by day has an interest in hydro, it’s whether or not the lights will go on when the switch is pulled. Besides, the Tories froze the cost of hydro to consumers and the Liberals promised not to change that. Only the socialist elite, and the elite media have the luxury of pondering what a wonderful world this would be if hydro remained in public hands. More people wanted to get rid of the Tories than thought that Dalton McGuinty was the best person to lead Ontario, so if Howard Hampton really ran a good campaign, his party wouldn’t be begging for party status. Yet according to 680 News, it’s the Tories that are whining.
And speaking of whining…
Former Privacy Commissioner, George Radwanski, did a lot of whining during his appearance on the October 5 edition of Global Sunday. The high flying former bureaucrat appeared to defend himself from a damning report issued by Sheila Fraser, the Auditor-General.
Radwanski, as befits a former editor of the Toronto Star, portrayed himself as the "victim" in the entire mess and whined about how it was all the fault of senior bureaucrats who ran his office. He took no responsibility for anything he did, as if he was not present at the overpriced dinners that he consumed on the taxpayers’ tab.
In the midst of his "I didn’t know how government ran" defense, he managed to make a good point. Fraser’s report mentioned how he yelled and screamed and otherwise berated his staff, banished some from meetings and moved others to far away floors of the building, conduct that the A-G described as a "reign of terror". Radwanski countered that while he was "demanding" he wasn’t abusive to his former staff. Then he compared himself to prime minister-in-waiting, Paul Martin, whose temper tantrums and screaming at underlings is legendary.
Yet the media doesn’t seem too concerned with the behaviour of the next prime minister. Guess when you’re a media darling, it doesn’t matter how you treat the people who work for you. Chalk up one for Radwanski.