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[igotthisguitar]

Harper Says He'll Avoid National Media
(Because they're biased against him)
Wed May 24, 06:03 PM EST

By Alexander Panetta

OTTAWA (CP) - Stephen Harper says journalists on Parliament Hill are biased against his government so he'll be avoiding them.

The prime minister says the parliamentary press gallery seems to have decided to become the opposition to his Conservative administration. He told a London, Ont., TV station on Wednesday that he is having problems with reporters in the capital that a Liberal prime minister would never face. So Harper says he will take his message out on the road and deal with the less hostile local media.

The comments were sparked by an incident Tuesday when two dozen Ottawa reporters walked out on a Harper event when he refused to take their questions.

The prime minister does not want to hold press conferences unless his staff choose which journalists ask questions from a list they compile. The Ottawa press gallery has refused to play by those rules.

Harper has groused publicly about an anti-Conservative bias in the media before - but not since becoming prime minister.

Ironically, senior Liberal officials earlier this year complained of an anti-Liberal bias in the national media.

In the dying days of the last election campaign, Paul Martin's staff grumbled that reporters were out to get them and were working to elect Harper.


One prominent media analyst said Wednesday the prime minister was being paranoid, and that his remarks were a strategic error that could backfire.

"Basically, what he's saying is the regional media can be trusted to be compliant. They will find that insulting," said Chris Dornan, head of Carleton University's journalism school.

"Just as the national press corps will find insulting the suggestion that they're all paid-up Liberal hacks.

"He's going out of his way to make enemies - and that's not a good sign."

The president of Ottawa's press gallery objected to Harper's comments.

"It's a little paranoid," said Yves Malo, a reporter with the Quebec-based TVA network, who urged his colleagues to walk out of the Tuesday news conference.

"I'm not anti-Conservative. I'm not pro-Conservative. I'm just a journalist who's trying to do his job."

Dornan said Harper's allegation is surprising because the Conservative government has generally received good coverage in the national media.

Harper earned mostly glowing headlines for the federal budget, for his new Accountability Act, for changes to the way Supreme Court justices are named, and for a cultural deal with Quebec

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/24052006/2/national-harper-says ( etc )

[mindmetoo]

Whoa the Bush style. At least we still have Question Period.

[igotthisguitar]

Prime Minister Harper "Taps" Liberal MP
For Advice On Middle East
Tue Aug 8, 9:12 PM
By Joan Bryden

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tapped a surprise source for advice on the Middle East: a Liberal MP of Muslim faith.

In a move apparently aimed at quelling criticism that he's been too ideological and too pro-Israel in his approach to the Lebanese conflict, the Conservative prime minister announced Tuesday that he's appointed Wajid Khan as his "special adviser" on South Asia and the Middle East. Khan, the Liberal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville, was born in Pakistan, where he served as a pilot in the air force.

Calgary MP Jason Kenney, Harper's parliamentary secretary, said the prime minister wanted "independent" advice from someone with intimate knowledge of the region.

Kenney said Khan could also help Harper build bridges to the Arab and Muslim communities, which have been furious about Harper's unequivocal support for Israel's bombardment of Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Khan is "somebody who has credibility with some groups of Canadians that might be skeptical about our mission in Afghanistan, for instance," Kenney said.

While supportive of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, Khan voted against a rushed government motion last spring to extend the mission for two years. He said Tuesday he opposed the haste and lack of debate surrounding the motion but is strongly committed to Canada's "democracy-building" role in Afghanistan.

Kenney hailed Khan's appointment as an example of Harper "thinking outside the box in the context of a minority Parliament on an issue where there should be a national consensus rather than just narrow partisanship prevailing."

"I think it shows a willingness to reach out and to listen."

Moreover, Kenney said Khan's appointment demonstrates the government is trying to establish "principled foreign policy" while being "respectful in our dialogue with the diversity of Canadians."

Polls suggest Harper's stance on Lebanon is out of sync with the majority of Canadians, who prefer to maintain a more balanced, neutral position in the Middle East. Support for the Afghanistan mission has also slumped as more Canadian soldiers return home in coffins.

The Conservatives' fortunes have slumped at the same time, particularly in Quebec, where opposition is greatest to Harper's decisions to extend the Afghanistan mission for another two years and to unequivocally back Israel in the Lebanese conflict.

Khan dismissed suggestions that Harper is using him to help restore his political fortunes or quell anger in Arab and Muslim communities.

"I give a lot of credit to the prime minister," Khan said.

"Canada must be able to utilize, I believe, all of its resources, even if it means putting aside partisanship, in order to get the best long-term results."

Khan will shortly embark on a fact-finding tour of the Middle East and South Asia. He will then report to Harper "on medium-and long-term opportunities to further Canadian engagement there in early October," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

Before accepting the assignment, Khan said he got approval from interim Liberal leader Bill Graham and encouragement from Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe, for whom Khan is Ontario campaign chairman.

Volpe was vehemently opposed to the extension of the Afghanistan mission. Despite disagreeing over that policy, Khan said he remains a strong supporter of Volpe's leadership candidacy.

[mindmetoo]