I Would Like the Parliamentary Budget Officer to Cost Out Stephen Harper's Photo-Ops

When Stephen Harper visited Canada’s arctic and was transported to the HMCS Toronto by helicopter for those ridiculous shots of him in an orange jumpsuit with a Star Wars helmet, the Nunavut’s Newspaper called it “The most expensive photo op you’ll ever see.”

He's had many of those. Including this one:

The whole thing was a beautifully staged act of geopolitical theatre. On the waters of Allen Bay, near the High Arctic community of Resolute Bay, beneath brilliant skies, Stephen Harper watched from a Zodiac on Wednesday as Leading Seaman Deidre Dorian dived into the crystal-cold Arctic Ocean. She talked to him by comm link from the ocean floor about seven metres below.

What would something like that cost? These photo-ops go beyond baby kissing and ribbon cutting. They are carefully staged and professionally choreographed. But what is their purpose?

From a Letter to the Editor in the Globe:

This week’s Stephen Harper High Arctic rendezvous and the meticulously staged photo-op with our military is further evidence that the Conservatives appear to be more interested in fluffing up Mr. Harper’s image than they are in dealing with the real issues facing Canadians.

I think that nails it.

His entire tenure has been one long stream of photo-ops. No questions. Few statements, except for partisan nonsense. Just photo-ops.

And his appearance after Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland, raises many questions. While he was pictured walking around the area, he failed to address what should have been addressed.

As Galloping Beaver wonders, after Harper claiming that he'd never seen anything like it.

I'm certainly not going to dispute it. However, first we have Harper telling us where the flood waters were, even though he wasn't there and secondly, he fails to acknowledge what actually happened. A politician chose to take the spotlight and act as a spokesman for somebody else. He doesn't know where the flood waters were; someone else told him. And since Harper was being so authoritative in his assessment and analysis why didn't some reporter simply nail him right then? Question: Isn't it a bit odd for mid-latitude Newfoundland to take a direct hit from a tropical Atlantic Category 1 hurricane? Since you're providing details would you explain how that meteorological event evolved?

Igor did not visit Canada to provide another photo-op for our prime minister. Shouldn't he question that maybe this is not a natural event?

This is what happens when your entire governance is 'focused' on 'camera friendly' events. You ignore the events that need your attention.

Like Global Warming.

I think it's time all those photo-ops were costed out. It's not up to taxpayers to fuel this man's narcissism. Taxpayer funded psychiatric help on the other hand. Now that's something I'd get behind.

Harper's Handling of Haiti Crisis Again Under Fire

After learning that the ship Harper rushed to Haiti arrived empty and after months still no money was forthcoming, we now hear that the response Harper had been so praised for, was all a show.

Nothing more than photo-ops and some good press after he took a beating for going on a two and half month prorogue vacation, while we still had to pay his MPs for doing nothing.

Not that they do much anyway other than partisan ankle biting.

Members of Canada's disaster relief team deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti without proper gear and training, while confusion and conflicting priorities allowed reporters to board military flights into the country ahead of critical medical aid, according to a post-mission report.

... The team, a military quick-reaction force that provides humanitarian aid following natural disasters and other emergencies, also couldn't get security personnel into Haiti on one of the earliest flights because they were bumped to accommodate media. "This had the potential to put Canadian civilian and military personnel at risk," the report says of the mission, dubbed Operation Hestia. But it's not clear from the brief why the core group of military personnel that's supposed to be in a state of high readiness with equipment stored in a special "High Readiness Warehouse" didn't appear fully ready to deploy.

... "The push to deploy rapidly may have satisfied the strategic objective of appearance that Canada was doing something," the document says. "However, it adversely affected the operational objective of providing rapid and effective humanitarian aid."

Business as usual in Harper's world. Why let human catastrophe get in the way of a good photo-op?

UPDATE:

The news just keeps getting better:

Canada's most senior-ranking military officer in Haiti has been forced from his command over a slew of allegations, including one of engaging in an inappropriate relationship and mishandling the management of his team. Col. Bernard Ouellette, chief of staff to the United Nations Haiti mission, was relieved on June 26 following a yearlong deployment to quake-ravaged Haiti, said Lt.-Col. Chris Lemay, a spokesman for the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command. "For a few months there was a situation that erupted and it became a negative environment, which, in the end, affected the collective cohesion and morale of the Canadian team," Lemay said.

More of Harper's So-Called Haiti Relief. Where Was The Relief?

The photograph from the right was published in the Globe and Mail and was taken during Harper's visit to Haiti. ( the woman doesn't look too impressed)

Everyone in the media was singing his praises, suggesting that he was the island's saviour, though many groups on the ground felt that it looked more like an invasion and occupation than a relief mission.

That was my gut reaction, especially after learning that George Bush would be heading it up.

The Chronicle Herald recently published a story that contradicts Harper's claims as well as those of the media. Seems like the Canadian ships he sent were not laden with supplies, medical or otherwise.

OTTAWA — When HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax were ordered to sail on a humanitarian mission to Haiti on Jan. 13, they worked through the night, passing boxes hand to hand, loading stores aboard the ships — everything they would need for the humanitarian mission.

But sailors didn’t take aboard much in the way of relief aid — food packages, medical supplies or shelters — for distribution to Haitians.

That's odd. Harper wouldn't lie would he?

In the House of Commons on Thursday, during his response to the speech from the throne, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said otherwise. "Ships of the Atlantic fleet were immediately ordered to Haiti from Halifax, loaded with relief supplies," he said as he recapped the government’s efforts to help Haiti recover from the earthquake.

But: During the voyage, some sailors wondered if the ships might have been better ff staying in port a little longer — say 12 hours — to take on more relief supplies, food aid and medical equipment before sailing for Haiti.

And according to others involved in the relief mission, CIDA is very slow at getting funds out the door. So what did Harper do to help the people of Haiti?

Seems like this was all for show and a few new snapshots to put on his wall.

Same old, same old.

Stephen Harper Lives Like a King While Peter Zimonjic Becomes Another Court Jester

There was the strangest story in my paper yesterday, written by someone I'd never heard of.

And while I say strange, I mean it was an apparent fabrication, suggesting to Canadians that Stephen Harper was a frugal traveller.

So I pulled out my Orwellian dictionary and sure enough doublespeak for frugal is wasteful, so was Peter Simonjic trying to send us a secret message that Stephen Harper is the most expensive prime minister we've ever had?

I thought that for a brief second, but then remembered. It's SUN media. They get paid to make stuff up.

Now I'm not suggesting that Zimonjic didn't carefully research the piece, making sure that the press release he received from the PMO contained no spelling errors, but if he'd just spent, oh, I don't know; about a minute and a half, with a google search bar, he would know that how much he spent on hotel rooms is the least of the expenses incurred by 'Mr. I want to be a U.S. president'.

He travels with a full motorcade. There is a video on Youtube that shows while he was visiting a small town to make an announcement at their local hall, there were more cars in his procession than there were in the whole bloody town.

He spent more than one hundred thousand dollars to stage an announcement in Chatham, that could have been presented in the House for free, especially since the Parliamentary budget officer was quick to report that the announcement was a work of fiction.

$108,000 of taxpayer money so he could lie to us. Now that's money well spent.

Obviously Peter has never been to a photo-op, where he would have been manhandled by the RCMP if he committed the mortal sin of asking our elected representative a question. OUR RCMP. Paid for by US, are now running interference with the media.

Or he hasn't witnessed how much expensive choreography goes into staging those photo-ops.

When Harper visited Canada’s arctic and was transported to the HMCS Toronto by helicopter for those ridiculous shots of him in an orange jumpsuit with a Star Wars helmet, the Nunavut’s Newspaper called it “The most expensive photo op you’ll ever see.”

Not sure it's the most expensive, given some of his others, but it's certainly up there.

He keeps 27 communications staff, many of whom travel with him. 27! Communications staff. He doesn't communicate!

So Mr Zimonjic, next time you write up this kind of nonsense, do a little digging. Who knows, maybe when you grow up you'll get to be a journalist.

But if not, I'm sure the SUN has kept your old paper route.

IS THIS REALLY CONSERVATIVE? IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?