by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
august 30, 2004
The CBC, the semi-official voice of Prime Minister Paul Martin and the Liberal Party of Canada painted their boy and his minority government as the true victims of Carolyn Parrish who, when speaking to a group protesting Canadian involvement in North american missile defense, said that Canada should not join "the coalition of idiots". although the CBC piece did mention the fact that the statement was not good for U.S.-Canada relations, the story centered upon how the comment made by Parrish was going to affect Martin.
Peter Mansbridge led off the National by telling what great plans the Liberals had for their august 25 caucus meeting. They were going to have a brainstorming session, air grievances and prepare for the Speech from the Throne. and then Carolyn Parrish called the americans "idiots". The day, according to Mansbridge, "wasn’t supposed to make Paul Martin look bad." Poor Paul.
The piece then went to CBC reporter Paul Hunter for a full report. Hunter described Parrish as being remembered for "famously speaking out against the Gulf War". That’s definitely one way to spin it. Parrish, as did many members of Parliament spoke out against the war but that is not what made the dumpy Ontario MP from Mississauga famous. She gained fame when she was overheard by a boom microphone saying "Damn americans — I hate those bastards" and then went on an alleged comedy show and bragged and laughed about it.
When Parrish was first confronted by the media she lied and denied using the words "idiots", only fessing up when she realized that her speech had been caught on tape. The CBC couldn’t describe one of their beloved Liberals as a liar so they put a benign spin on it, saying that "she seemed to think the word idiots might be troublesome". Hunter was suggesting that it is okay to lie, at least if you are a Liberal and faced with something that "might be troublesome".
For balance, the CBC also interviewed Conservative MP, Gordon O’Connor. In introducing the comments of the opposition member, Hunter described the reaction to Parrish’s statements as "eager to exploit Martin’s minority, the opposition jumped on it." This was pure Liberal Party spin. The way the opposition "jumped on it" was no different than when Parrish had made her "damn americans" comments when the Liberals had a majority. The substantive point that was made by O’Connor; that Paul Martin’s promised to improve relations with United States and his was not going to help, was ignored by the CBC. The opposition was merely exploiting the situation because poor Paul only has a minority.
Paul Hunter concluded his piece by saying that there is no room in a minority for internal party dissent and the Liberals shouldn’t give the opposition an opportunity to attack.
The CBC viewed the entire Carolyn Parrish episode from the point of view of the potential damage to Martin and his minority. The anti-american network doesn’t see anything particularly wrong with what Parrish actually said.
It probably never occurred to the CBC elites that Parrish’s childish comments might have an effect beyond making Paul Martin look bad.