according to Richard Brennan of the Toronto Star, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has taken steps to prevent Liberal staffers and provincial civil servants from speaking to the media and members of the opposition.
The newspaper has obtained a secret memo wherein McGuinty’s press secretary, Chris Morley, "ordered" Liberal political staff not to speak with the media "because journalists are out to embarrass the government" and are not likely to report all the wonderful things that the Liberals are doing in the areas of health, education and the economy.
after that word came down from on high, provincial civil servants, according to Brennan, were told not to give any information to or talk with MPPs from the opposition PC and NDP parties.
Chris Morley and his political bosses are a tad confused if they think that the media is out to embarrass the provincial government. It seems their understanding of how the media works leaves a little to be desired. Much of the mainstream media, such as Brennan’s Toronto Star are, by and large sympathetic to the left leaning Liberals. They aren’t out to "embarrass McGuinty" and his party. The reality is that with his lies, deceptions and string of broken election campaign promises, Dalton McGuinty embarrasses himself. He is an embarrassment. The journalists are just reporting that fact. There may have been a government in Canada that has been more dishonest and has broken more promises than the current governing Liberals, but it is hard to think of one. It is the actions of McGuinty and his government and those actions alone that are to blame if the premier’s conduct and character is somehow overshadowing such substantive issues as health care and education. Instead of acknowledging the fact that he is the problem, McGuinty prefers to shoot the messenger.
It is hard to understand what McGuinty will accomplish by freezing out the media. By preventing his staffers from speaking with reporters, the media will simply get the information that they are seeking from other sources. If a battle starts to rage between McGuinty and the press, the latter, always having the last word, will win. The Ontario premier just seems to be digging himself deeper and deeper.
While preventing his staffers from speaking to the media may border on naïve silliness, McGuinty’s "order" that provincial civil servants not speak with opposition members of the legislature is a direct attack on democracy. Even Paul Martin, whose talk about slaying the democratic deficit is just that--talk, wouldn’t go that far. Those MPPs that are in opposition have been democratically elected to represent the interests of their constituents. Preventing civil servants from talking to PC and NDP members is a direct slap in the face to all of those hard working taxpayers who live in areas that saw fit to send members of the opposition parties to Queen’s Park to represent them. McGuinty, to benefit himself, is prepared to deprive these Ontarians of being properly represented by well informed members of the legislature, all because they didn’t vote for the right candidate. and as Tory MPP Ted arnott told the Toronto Star, this order is also an insult to the professional civil servants who are simply attempting to properly do their jobs.
It appears that all the lies, broken promises and deceptions are coming back to haunt the government and the premier has gone into panic mode. It is mind boggling to think how McGuinty will act as we get closer to the October 4, 2007 election date.
Many Liberals must pine for the good old days when the Liberals were at last in power in the province. athough the government of David Peterson and Treasurer Bob Nixon had their problems, it was nothing like the McGuinty Liberals are encountering.
Instead of going back to the good old days of Bob Nixon, McGuinty has travelled back to the days of Richard Nixon. It’s only a matter of time before Dalton begins to wander the halls of Queen’s Park talking to portraits.