Kelly McParland: If the politicians shut up, would you really miss the no
Kelly McParland: If the politicians shut up, would you really miss the noise?
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There is trouble brewing in Ottawa. Despite recent tragic events in the Middle East forcing him back into public view, to the greatest extent possible, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is apparently intent on sticking by his vow to keep his head down and his mouth closed, a sharp shift from his first four years of selfie-taking, magazine-adorning, virtue-signalling puffery.
This could be a result of the prime minister having seen his popularity plummet from overexposure, not to mention all the stumbles, scandals and general inanity that plagued the Great Liberal Sunshine Government. If there was a message voters issued on Oct. 21 it owed something to the chant New York Islanders fans put up every time their former captain — now the Toronto Maple Leafs captain — returns to Long Island: “We don’t need you!”
But no action in Ottawa goes uncriticized, and it would appear that the same holds for non-action as well. Take away the prime minister and his non-stop, 24/7 self-promotion department, and what do you have left? More pertinently, what does the Ottawa press gallery have to write about? When we said we wanted to see less of the prime minister, we didn’t mean we wanted to see less of the prime minster!
Paul Wells, easily one of Canada’s most knowledgeable political pundits, complains in Maclean’s magazine that the Trudeau government appears to have fallen asleep since October. “It’s now been 11 weeks since the 2019 election reduced the Liberals to a minority,” he writes. “Seven weeks since the new Liberal cabinet was sworn in. Even over holidays, governments normally do things over the span of seven or 11 weeks.”
Except this one, evidently. That is, if you assume that a government that goes quiet about its activities isn’t actually engaged in any activities. If a minister makes a decision and the decision isn’t communicated to the press, did the decision happen? A less polite question might be, once the press gets used to its daily plate of government cookies, is it fair to snatch the plate away?
It’s an eternal question in the fraught relationship between government and press, especially the slightly hyper media machine in Ottawa. Reporters and pundits want to know everything that happens. That’s their job. They also insist it is Canadians’ right: we elected you, and you’re not supposed to keep secrets. They want it on their own terms, however. Just the facts, without the standard blather and embellishment. Tell us everything, except the boring bits. Save those for the CBC.
Without the prime minister, the press is left with mere cabinet members. Cabinet members are dull. Who cares what the minister for middle-class enhancement is up to, or the minister for trying to get along with the provinces? The press gallery has long chafed at the growing concentration of power in the Prime Minister’s Office, but, take it away and is anyone going to get out of bed to chase down the latest hot item from oceans and fisheries?
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