OTTAWA —
Watching the age of personality be eclipsed by the plastic politician has been the most distressing phenomenon to observe as I leave after 40 years in the daily news business.
We are in an era where the proliferation of media relations staffing is only exceeded by the decimation of journalism ranks. Ironically, many of those advising politicians on media manipulation are themselves displaced reporters.
More than ever before, communications flacks see their role as cocooning cabinet ministers, premiers and even mayors from actually facing a reporter scrum or returning their phone calls.
It is much safer to issue a bland statement, which prevents journalists from obtaining clarification or explanation from incomplete responses.
Of course, the best reporters and columnists can still meet politicians or staff in a dark bar to find out what is going on. But from a television host’s chair, it’s a daily struggle to get leaders or cabinet ministers, assuming they actually agree to an interview, to even attempt to appear unscripted.
This is not to single out Justin Trudeau’s government as particularly egregious. Message tracking and script reading were similarly intense under Stephen Harper.
And once greater thought control over a caucus is successfully exercised, it is never relinquished by the next leader in line.
So, as I sign off, let me quickly run through the hall of fame and shame of those who excelled at being a personality versus those who meekly performed the role of potted palms in the background.
First off, there are promising premier entries into the field of leaders capable of talking like they have a pulse to call their own – take a bow Alberta’s Jason Kenney, Quebec’s Francois Legault, New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs and B.C.’s John Horgan.
And there were encouraging signs in the last election that voters are fed up with focus-grouped leader lines. The only two who exceeded electoral expectations were NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and the Bloc’s Yves-Francois Blanchet, both delivering personality-enhancing performances.
But the finger of shame should wag at the gag on every Trudeau cabinet minister except, on some days, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland.
And then there’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself.
Before becoming prime minister, Trudeau used to talk like a human. Now his mouth gushes out a jumble of staff-approved nouns, verbs and adjectives which defy assembly into coherent and insightful sentences.
So if I have a farewell wish for my viewers and colleagues, it’s that more politicians reject central thought control to act and talk openly like the voters they’re elected to represent.
And may today’s plastic politicians be quickly recycled by voters of the future into someone more useful.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
