Though the media had been both perpetrators and spectators to the horrible character assassination of Michael Ignatieff, we find that across the country similar smear campaigns were taking place on Liberal candidates.
We knew this election, with everything on the line, Harper and his team would fight dirty. But we were not prepared for what took place, in what is becoming clear was the most fraudulent election campaign in Canadian history.
Harper's former VP when he was running the National Citizens Coalition, called it guerrilla warfare. And it was indeed an undercover operation. A small group of combatants whose mission was not only to win, but to destroy every Liberal in its path.
And one of the victims of this war, was Glen Pearson, a decent man and hard working Member of Parliament. He never let partisanship destroy his integrity, but in the end it destroyed him.
It was expected by most that I would win and the media sent its staff to my campaign office to cover the victory party that wasn’t. It became clear as the evening progressed that the vote split between myself and the NDP was proving fatal. Yet I’d had something of a premonition of the outcome during the last few days of the contest. At doors I canvassed I kept hearing certain stories about how I spent too much time in Africa, or that my voting presence in the House wasn’t too impressive. When I informed them that I only spent one week a year on that continent (Sudan), and that I take it on my holiday time over New Years and on my own dime, I could sense the hesitation in their voice. “Oh … that’s not what we heard when the Conservatives phoned us last night.” Something that hadn’t been an issue heretofore was suddenly looming large in the final days.
It was frustrating, but I didn’t know who to talk to. It was only when the election was over that a good Conservative friend informed me that they had actually been utilizing a central office for phone calls and that none of them emanated from London itself. They had poured big money from afar into influencing my riding. What I had thought to be a local campaign had suddenly taken on national dimensions.
Mr. Pearson does volunteer work in Africa. Who knew that the Conservatives would stoop to the level of using it against him.
Sadly his story is not unique. Riding after riding, is reporting the same dirty tricks, reminiscent of Karl Rove and the way he stole elections for George Bush.
But in the process, people's lives are being destroyed. As Andrew Potter said recently of the destruction of Michael Ignatieff, Canada is 'No country for good men'.
Sadly, we are now a country where good people will be afraid to run for office. If Glen Pearson can be destroyed, anyone can.
With so much talk of Canada's "culture wars" these days, it's difficult to identify the enemies.
I find myself observing people when I'm out, and detect nothing in the way of open hostility, and yet it is there. It's there when I read message boards or comments at the end of online articles.
But more importantly, it's there from our own government. They are openly hostile toward anyone who doesn't agree with them, and their list of enemies continues to grow.
"University Types", "Taliban Dupes", "Just Visiting", Elitists", "Artists in Ivory Towers".... the list goes on.
I attended the Michael Ignatieff lunch in Kingston yesterday and he said something that sums it up well. He suggested that Stephen Harper's problem is that "he doesn't look for the best in Canadians but seeks out the worst". That is very astute.
The nature of neoconservativism is to tap into the worst elements of human nature, and build a movement around that.
When Ernest Manning tried to create a federal party of the right-wing, by entering into a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives, he was turned down flat. He and his son, decided that the time wasn't right, and Preston said that they would have to wait until the next wave of "anger", before they could fulfil their dream*. But a party built on anger, only creates an angry party, and we see evidence of that everyday.
Yesterday, someone was distributing a T-Shirt outside the restaurant's courtyard, that was a mock up of the old "just visiting" only adding "tour", and on the back, the web address of their juvenile 'Ignatieff me' site. (I countered with one of my own)
One photographer approached and when he read the shirt just rolled his eyes and walked away.
Canadians are not engaged in a culture war against each other. We know what the real Canadian culture is, and we embrace it. So instead of playing to their base and seeking out the worst in Canadians, this government needs to stop their toxic partisanship and start paying attention, or they are going to find that "base" a very narrow base indeed.
There were an unusual amount of responses to yesterday’s blog concerning willful ignorance, with the vast majority expressing their concern that hyper-partisanship has overtaken both the public and political space in Canada. One friend – a sincere Conservative – states the partisanship and absolutism have grown to such a degree that he has taken to “spamming” many of his own party’s blogs and emails because of the extremism resident within the language. He closed one paragraph by cautioning: “You present a radical but refreshing approach to solving issues that are ripping at the heart of our precious country. For the many that cannot accept radical change, you present a problem.” It’s a sad statement of the times that I can’t mention my friend’s name lest he be ripped apart by the radical fringe of his own party.
I wonder how many Conservatives feel the same way, about the direction their party is going. I used to be a PC, but when they folded in 2003, I was left without a home.
I voted NDP for the next two elections, but then I read Michael Ignatieff's book: The Rights Revolution, and realized that this man understands what it really means to be Canadian. He did not write the book as a politician, but as a man who loved his country. And though his career kept him out of Canada for many years, Canada was clearly never removed from his heart and mind.
I voted Liberal in 2008 and when Michael Ignatieff was named leader, I joined the party.
And why?
Because he always looks for the best in us.
Footnotes:
*Preston Manning and the Reform Party, by Murray Dobbin, Goodread Biographies/Formac Publishing, 1992, ISBN: 0-88780-161-7
I really like Glen Pearson's blog. He is a decent guy, and while a Liberal MP, is always pragmatic. But he brought up an interesting point about the media. It really doesn't matter what a politician does or doesn't do, it would seem. It's about media perception and how it can make or break you.
"Andrew Coyne put forward an interesting premise a few days ago: “Time For Ignatieff To Take A Chance.” The popular Maclean’s columnist suggested it might be time for Michael Ignatieff to rip up those prepared speeches and just speak from the heart. He believes the public is looking for someone who’s truly “authentic” and they would likely “rush the barriers” to see Ignatieff if he just put it all out there. Coyne presses on to say that Canada’s present political climate is largely dishonest and timid – incapable of taking Canadians where they really need to go. It was a well-written column but I still wonder as to its premise.
"Let’s be honest: No political leader in their right mind dares to be as truthful as Coyne challenges because it would be the media itself that couldn’t withhold its skepticism long enough to truly investigate the merits of that leader’s case.
"Opposition parties would immediately pounce and all manner of bloggers, pundits and columnists would discuss the scary ramifications of such a daredevil proposition. I recall when Ignatieff came to London following a visit to Cambridge, in which he stated no leader would be worthy of the name if he or she didn’t place the possibility of raising taxes on a long list of future considerations if a deficit couldn’t be brought under control.
Political staffers mulled around, worried that it would be taken out of context, which it inevitably was. Media had a field day with it. Ignatieff, suffering from a gruelling cold, sat in a chair prior to the event in London and wondered what became of honesty in the public space. The very next day in the House, Conservative members used every possible occasion to ridicule Ignatieff, calling him just another “tax and spend” Liberal. The media ate it up.
We don't seem to want honesty anymore. It's like a reality television show, where everyone is hanging onto their seats waiting for a bikini top to fall off. What in the hell has happened to us?
"I watch it every day in Question Period. Like the half-mortal gods of the ancient Greeks, the media occupies the upper tier of seats in the press gallery and amuses itself on the vain actions and ambitions of the mere mortals below. When a minister, whom the gods appear to favour, responds to a question by minimizing the query in an amusing fashion, many of the gods merely smile outwardly at his brashness, refusing to acknowledge that, not only is the answer untruthful, it is, in fact, demeaning of a serious place of public debate.
"Politicians pick this up. Those that are ahead in the polls (supposedly favoured by the gods) at a given time look up to their communications benefactors, nod in greeting, and remain intent on schmoozing with the journalists at some event later in the day to maintain their favour. Those that are behind in public favour cast quick and insecure glances at the upper tier, wondering if the journalists will only make their lot worse the next day.
"Maybe, if we were all to be truthful, we should just acknowledge that the media has become Canada’s natural governing party – it remains when other parties stumble and fall.
Journalists and commentators facing horrendous deadlines find their work made easier when some politician steps out of line and in a rare moment of candour tells the truth. It’s far easier to mull over the effect of the statement than to truly take the time to consider its potential for damage or good. I read in a national daily today a well-known columnist whom I respect wonder if it might not be a wise time for Harper to cause another election if he wants to survive some upcoming challenges like Afghanistan.
"What’s with that? Ignatieff just took a national pummelling for threatening to force an election and now we have a pundit thinking it might not be a bad idea for Harper.
"I admit that, as a fairly new MP, I am confused by all of this. When I told an NDP MP friend of mine that I was going to write this post, she immediately replied, “Glen, don’t do it; they’ll dump on you.” But when everything we do in the House is meant to satisfy the media, little is left for true honesty and the need for serious public policy. Can Andrew Coyne guarantee a fair hearing from media colleagues for honest revelations from political leaders? Unlikely. I remain at a loss. Meanwhile the gods above observe … and enjoy their bemusement.
He makes a good point. We see it with polling. Headlines might read anywhere from 'Harper now in majority territory' to 'Michael Ignatieff polling worse than Dion'. A few honest journalists will admit that nothing is for sure and that the West is bringing the Ref-Cons numbers up disproportionately.
But it doesn't matter. The headline is embedded in our minds and when a pollster calls we 'go with the majority'. If the rest of the country thinks that Harper should have it then what the hell, right? Few in the media have the nerve to tell us what a Harper majority would like, nor do they care. They're just waiting for the next big headline, no matter how contrived.
And we are letting it happen. I can't tell you how many times the media has brought up the sponsorship scandal, despite the fact that it was investigated; involved no elected officials and the guilty paid. But every time a Reform-Conservative scandal comes up, the media have to add those two famous words: 'sponsorship scandal' and then everything Harper and his gang does just disappears Poof!
Can you imagine an accused murderer doing something like that? "Yes, I killed seventeen people so did someone else". "Oh well, alrighty then, you're free to go."
In many ways the media is complicit in the "In and Out", the 'Cadman Affair', mafia ties, patronage, nepotism, abuse of tax dollars ... because they dismiss them with two words that have more power than anything else in this country. 'Sponsorship scandal" ... they forget the other two little words "Just visiting'.
Though the media had been both perpetrators and spectators to the horrible character assassination of Michael Ignatieff, we find that across the country similar smear campaigns were taking place on Liberal candidates.
