Increased Silence and Secrecy: Are we Really Prepared for This?

It would be difficult to pinpoint a single word to describe the Harper government, but for me one of the most important words is 'secrecy'.

They have held onto information with such an iron grip, that you can spot a Conservative at 100 yards, because of their glowing white knuckles. I don't think I need to tell you how important a free flow of information is to a healthy democracy.

So maybe a little chronology of how they have been able to completely alter the way a government accounts to the people. First off, remember that the Accountability Act was a sham.

Republican pollster Frank Luntz, advised the Civitas Society, the policy arm of the Harper government, that there were three things to focus on, that would lead to a majority: tax relief (courtesy of George Bush), accountability and hockey.

Because so long as they made those things the centre of their messaging, we would pay attention to little else. When I first heard that, I thought he had misread the Canadian people. Now I'm not so sure.

Shutting Down Our Access to Information. A Chronology

April 2006 - Time Magazine reports on Harper's secrecy: Controlling the Message "The capital's journalists, who view themselves as watchdogs against government abuse, expressed concerns about the Harper government."

Latraverse. "Canadians should be worried when they see the government trying to exert such an unprecedented level of control."

Peter Murdoch of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union says the new policy "smacks of totalitarianism."

Alasdair Roberts, a Syracuse University public-policy professor, asks, "How can the average Canadian make a judgment about whether their government is being well run if they don't have access to the information?"

October 2007 - In 2007, Tonda MacCharles in the Ottawa Bureau of the Toronto Star, unearthed secret plans for a special media centre, dubbed the "Shoe Store Project". At the time Harper's staff had been working quietly, to restore an old shoe store into a controlled environment for government messaging.

May 2008 - Bruce Campion-Smith writes a six part series on how tight the government's message control is. They also shut down an important database. I used that site all the time.

November 2009 - It was discovered that Harper now had his own team of taxpayer funded photographers travelling with him, to make sure that he was captured in the right light. The Globe asked: Is Stephen Harper going too far in trying to control his image?

November 2009 - We learn that this government is also completely controlling the messaging in Afghanistan. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office used a "6,000-mile screwdriver" to oversee the denial of reports of Afghan detainee abuse when the scandal first erupted in 2007, according to a former senior NATO public affairs official who was then based in Kabul. The former official, speaking on condition his name not be used, told the Toronto Star that Harper's office in Ottawa "scripted and fed" the precise wording NATO officials in Kabul used to repudiate allegations of abuse "at a time when it was privately and generally acknowledged in our office that the chances of good treatment at the hands of Afghan security forces were almost zero."It was highly unusual." And he claimed not to know?

December 2009 - Bruce Cheadle of the Canadian Press, revealed that "Taxpayers are being asked to pay an extra $1.7-million this fiscal year to help bolster Stephen Harper's communications support services – just as the Prime Minister's Office begins distributing government videos of Harper to the news media." The Harper government was now writing their own copy, taking their own photos, and creating their own video, for news stories.

May 2010 - Youths who participated in a question-and-answer session with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday say their questions were edited by the Prime Minister’s Office. Other youths had earlier explained that the questions were selected by Vision Internationale, a non-profit Christian group, and then edited by Harper’s office.

When Anna Fricker, a young ambassador for the group, discovered that her question on maternal health had been edited, she spoke out: Fricker was then interrupted by an organizer who would not identify herself except to say, "I’m supposed to be handling the media." "I would appreciate if you could just work with us so that we can keep this consistent message," she said. "I’m just supposed to keep this under control." (Chronicle Herald, May 18, 2010)

And So it Continues

The Canadian Association of Journalists in an open letter to Canadian journalists, sounded the alarm over the secrecy and silence.

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the flow of information out of Ottawa has slowed to a trickle. Cabinet ministers and civil servants are muzzled. Access to Information requests are stalled and stymied by political interference. Genuine transparency is replaced by slick propaganda and spin designed to manipulate public opinion. The result is a citizenry with limited insight into the workings of their government and a diminished ability to hold it accountable. As journalists, we fear this will mean more government waste, more misuse of taxpayer dollars, more scandals Canadians won’t know about until it’s too late.

Harper is now signalling that he will raise the price of access to information requests from $5.00 to $25.00, making it even more difficult to learn what is happening behind closed doors.

The RCMP is also investigating a 'Purple File', used to tuck away requests that could prove embarrassing to Harper and his disciples.

And on the campaign trail he continues to limit questions and forces the media to stand well back of him. Not off to a good start.

My fear, and no doubt the fear of others, is that if we give this government another mandate, we will be giving them permission to operate in secrecy. Stephen Harper will continue to shut out the press, and thereby the Canadian people, and his propaganda team will only put larger bolts on the door.

The transformation to the 'Harper Government', a government of one, that does as it pleases, will be complete.

Are we really prepared for this?

WikiLeaks Must be Protected as the Only Record of Our History

I mentioned in an earlier post, a man by the name of Don Brown. He would be the first non-American to be recognized by the Pulitzer Prize committee, because of his fight for freedom of the press.

He worked during the days of William Aberhart, the Social Credit premier of Alberta. This party was the predecessor to Reform and subsequently, the Conservative Party of Canada.

In 1935, Aberhart had put into place The Accurate News and Information Act, and according to Time Magazine:

Without crudely borrowing the name of Germany's "Ministry of Propaganda & Public Enlightenment," Premier Aberhart announced that Alberta Government news will hereafter be "dished out in platters" by a bureau with exclusive monopoly of statements from the Premier & Cabinet so that ''there will be no more scoops." (1)

Brown ignored this arbitrary law and continued to do what journalists do. He reported the truth. He would be jailed, stalked, and threatened with physical violence, but he stuck to it, and so did many others.

The Supreme Court eventually overturned this measure as being unconstitutional.

Don Brown, the reporter who led the charge and his paper, the Edmonton Journal were awarded a bronze plaque from the Pulitzer Prize committee, the first time it honoured a non-American newspaper. And ninety-five other papers, including the Calgary Albertan, Edmonton Bulletin, Calgary Herald, Lethbridge Herald, and Medicine Hat News, were presented with engraved certificates. (2)

At the same time in Germany, journalists were not so lucky. Much like today in this country, they were told what to write and if they went off script, lost their jobs. Some were even imprisoned.

Recently in Canada, Greg Weston was fired from The Sun for exposing the Fake Lake story, and Rick Salutin from the Globe and Mail for reminding Canadians that Stephen Harper was a Straussian. And at the G-20 weekend from hell, journalists were targeted, beaten and arrested.

Canadian Heather Mallick wrote of her ordeal, after angering Fox News, reminding us of how horrible Fox News North will be. Her story is worth a read, especially if you don't believe that progressive journalists are being victimized.

I wanted to share something else, about our lack of media in Canada (less than 1% now independent) Ruth Andreas-Friedrich was a journalist in Nazi Germany. She would belong to a small group of Germans who worked throughout the regime, harbouring and securing safe passage for Jewish refugees and "enemies of the state".

In her journal, she speaks of what it was like for her, having to measure every word.

It's a queer thing. Every day millions of pounds of printed paper go rolling out of this building, vomiting a torrent of National Socialist propaganda over mankind. And yet there's hardly one person under our roof who agrees with what he writes, sets, prints, edits, or carries from office to office. As long as the walls have no ears, people mutter by two's or in small groups behind every door.

The few hundred-percenters are known; they are toadied to—and shunned. People warn you of them, stop talking or change the subject whenever they come into the room. And no one dares tell them to their faces what he thinks, what is bothering him, and what he trembles at. Those among us with acrobatic consciences hold the view that anyone with eyes cannot help reading between the lines how fiercely our pens rebel at writing down the prescribed lies.

I can't help myself. I don't see anything between the lines. If there's any pulse in them at all, it's certainly no more than the beat of a chicken heart. But after all, where is courage to come from when it will cost you your neck to show any? (3)

I am absolutely appalled by our newspapers today and the stories they miss. I have to read the UK Guardian and the New York Times, among others, to learn what's happening in Canada.

I've often wondered if journalists are embarrassed by their work now. If they see it as a "torrent of propaganda", or if they have just become desensitized.

They write only what the government allows them to write.

Not that we don't have some very good journalists in Canada, but they are becoming a dying breed.

And this is why we need to protect WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is a wanted man because he is documenting history. That used to be the job of the journalist. Don Brown knew that and so did Ruth Andreas-Friedrich.

Why WikiLeaks will not be silenced

Shadowy government agencies around the world are probably scratching their heads this morning, as they try to come up with yet another way of silencing WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website that delights in publishing confidential documents and briefing notes, to the great embarrassment and irritation of those in authority.

The site is showing remarkable resilience. Despite being under constant distributed denial of service attacks that are resulting in intermittent availability, Wikileaks has survived being kicked off Amazon’s servers (after alleged pressure from the US government), and having support for its domain name withdrawn by its provider.

It will take more than that to put Julian Assange off his stride. Wikileaks has simply moved its services to Switzerland, Sweden and France, and remains, for the most part, up and running.

Say YES to WikiLeaks. Say NO to Fox News North.

Sources:

1. Social Credit Improved, Time Magazine, September 16, 1935

2. The Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Social Credit in Alberta, By John J. Barr, McClelland and Stewart Limited, ISBN 077101015X, Pg. 112-113

3. Berlin Underground: 1938-1945, By Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, Henry Holt and Company, 1947, Pg. 7

Stephen Harper Revives the Accurate News and Information Act

In 1935, Alberta elected the first Social Credit government in the world and a man by the name of William Aberhart, would be named premier of Alberta.

Upon his death, his lieutenant, Ernest Manning took the reins and ran Alberta for several decades. Later Ernest's son Preston Manning would found the Reform Party and his lieutenant Stephen Harper would head up the same party under the Alliance banner and later the (Reform) Conservative Party of Canada.

In a 1997 speech to the Council for National Policy, Stephen Harper himself stated "The predecessor of the Reform party, the Social Credit party ..." and also claims that "It's the closest thing we have to a neo-conservative party ...". (1)

From the moment that the social credit movement began, Aberhart, dubbed "Bible Bill", waged war on the media, and after his election victory, according to Time Magazine:

Without crudely borrowing the name of Germany's "Ministry of Propaganda & Public Enlightenment," Premier Aberhart announced that Alberta Government news will hereafter be "dished out in platters" by a bureau with exclusive monopoly of statements from the Premier & Cabinet so that ''there will be no more scoops." (2)

But journalists doing what journalists do, scooped him all over the place. This prompted the Alberta legislature to pass what was called The Accurate News and Information Act, which essentially was an attempt to muzzle the press, and according to Time Magazine: The .. bill would force Alberta newspapers to give as much as one full page to presentation of the Government's views verbatim at any time upon demand. (3) And:

The act empowered the chair of the Social Credit Board to require a newspaper to reveal the names and addresses of its sources, as well as the names and addresses of any writers, including of unsigned pieces. Non-compliance would result in fines of up to $1,000 per day, and prohibitions on the publishing of the offending newspaper, of stories by offending writers, or of information emanating from offending sources. The act also required newspapers to print, at the instruction of the chair of the Social Credit Board, any statement "which has for its object the correction or amplification of any statement relating to any policy or activity of the Government of the Province." (4)

The Supreme Court eventually overturned this measure as being unconstitutional. But the real story here is the media's reaction. They fought William Aberhart tooth and nail and they won. Don Brown, the reporter who led the charge and his paper, the Edmonton Journal were awarded a bronze plaque from the Pulitzer Prize committee, the first time it honoured a non-American newspaper. And ninety-five other papers, including the Calgary Albertan, Edmonton Bulletin, Calgary Herald, Lethbridge Herald, and Medicine Hat News, were presented with engraved certificates. (5)

Fast Forward to Another 'Time':

In 2006, roughly seven decades after the founder of this movement, William Aberhart, attempts to strangle the media; his successor, Stephen Harper also makes Time Magazine, as they report that:

--The PMO has restricted what Cabinet ministers, embassies, consulates and some Members of Parliament can say and do without first having their plans vetted by the PMO.

--Officials decide which reporters get to ask questions at the Prime Minister's press conferences and sometimes pass over those they suspect have questions they don't want to deal with.

--The PMO has not announced some of Harper's meetings with national and international leaders.

--The PMO has placed undue restrictions on allowing reporters into photo ops in the Prime Minister's Centre Block office, even though they have traditionally been allowed access. The PMO last week beefed up security and allowed only photographers and camera operators into a meeting in which children presented daffodils to Harper as part of a campaign to raise awareness for cancer research. Reporters who had been barred from the session got into a minor shoving match with Commons security guards.

With Parliament starting a new session this week, the journalists, at least, say the issues at stake are critical. "We contribute as members of the press to holding the government accountable for its actions," says Latraverse. "Canadians should be worried when they see the government trying to exert such an unprecedented level of control." (6)

But a lot has happened since 2006, and what we have today is a government that does not speak to us, except in carefully scripted soundbites, and a media that gave up the fight long ago.

So should we really be surprised to learn that when youth were invited to 'question' their prime minister' that this would happen:

Youths who participated in a question-and-answer session with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday say their questions were edited by the Prime Minister’s Office. Other youths had earlier explained that the questions were selected by Vision Internationale, a non-profit Christian group, and then edited by Harper’s office.

And when Anna Fricker, a young ambassador for the group, discovered that her question on maternal health had been edited, she spoke out:

Fricker was then interrupted by an organizer who would not identify herself except to say, "I’m supposed to be handling the media." "I would appreciate if you could just work with us so that we can keep this consistent message," she said. "I’m just supposed to keep this under control."

A Christian group hired to "keep this under control". Whose control?

And the Globe and Mail also stated that he avoided any questions on the environment, something young people are very concerned about:

Raimey Gallant is putting on the record the question she wanted to ask Stephen Harper at a G8/G20 forum Monday but couldn’t because of a process she believes was so stage-managed as to be insulting.

The 30-year-old student from Winnipeg’s Red River College wanted to talk to the Prime Minister about the environment. She wanted to ask about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and she even censored herself by making her question a little tamer in hopes it would be picked. It didn’t happen.

... Anything beyond the economy, including issues frequently covered by the national media, is a “sideshow,” the Prime Minster said.

“The whole sideshow thing, I think that insulted me the most,” Ms. Raimey told The Globe today. “I was really upset by that. I find it extremely insulting because we are Canadians, too, and these issues are important to us. If our Prime Minister thinks they are sideshows – I mean this isn’t a government of one.”

This "isn't a government of one"? Silly girl. Of course it is.

But as much as the media is now crying foul, it should not have taken a group of young people to point out that government information is so "stage-managed it's insulting." It should be insulting to everyone in this country, especially our media.

Because the real story here is that they did not fight this. They laid down for a man who is not only taking his own photos and writing his own copy, but "dishing out news on platters."

So who among them will win a plaque from the Pulitzer prize committee for breaking through the silence? How many Canadian newspapers will win certificates for standing up to this totalitarian regime?

These young people deserve an apology. But not an apology from the PMO, but an apology from Canada's press who allowed this to happen.

Thomas Jefferson once said: "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

The media should uphold that in the same way that a doctor upholds the Hippocratic Oath to "first do no harm". But as these young people have pointed out, the harm has already been done.

Sources:

1. Full text of Stephen Harper's 1997 speech, CBC News, December 14, 2005

2. Social Credit Improved, Time Magazine, September 16, 1935

3. Bill's Bills, Time Magazine, October 18, 1937

4. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 272-273

5. The Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Social Credit in Alberta, By John J. Barr, McClelland and Stewart Limited, ISBN 077101015X, Pg. 112-113

6. Controlling The Message, By Steven Frank, April 03, 2006