And the kudos keep rolling in...
...as our federal government violates the First Law of Holes: when you're in one, stop digging.
Further to my post from yesterday afternoon, Murray Brewster at CP writes a very interesting piece today:
So, according to Brewster, it's the PCO that's causing the problem. I know senior people on the Public Affairs side at DND, and quite a few of them are bright, committed, and thoroughly competent individuals. So the idea that this problem can be traced back to the PCO has the ring of truth about it, to my ears at least.
Brewster's article contains another fascinating nugget, though:
It's no wonder the policy hasn't been changed: can you imagine the outrage from both the media and the public at large if the government were to officially gag DND? The fact that they're doing it by stealth instead doesn't speak well of the senior bureaucrats at the PCO, the puppetmasters at the PMO, and the Conservative politicians who are, at worst, directing the whole affair, and at best, allowing it to proceed.
What an incredibly short-sighted course of action.
Further to my post from yesterday afternoon, Murray Brewster at CP writes a very interesting piece today:
Important information and interview requests directed to the Canadian military must now be cleared by senior bureaucrats who are under the direction of the prime minister’s office, say defence sources.
The Privy Council Office directive applies to all matters of "national importance," but is primarily focused on shaping information related to the war in Afghanistan.
The order was issued within the last two weeks and caps a determined effort by the Conservatives to assert more civilian control over the military, which has been seen in government circles to have too much influence in the conduct of the war.
So, according to Brewster, it's the PCO that's causing the problem. I know senior people on the Public Affairs side at DND, and quite a few of them are bright, committed, and thoroughly competent individuals. So the idea that this problem can be traced back to the PCO has the ring of truth about it, to my ears at least.
Brewster's article contains another fascinating nugget, though:
A second official added that the military side was in the "information business" while the political side was "in the marketing business."
Requests for comment from the Prime Minister’s Office and Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s office were not answered Monday.
A call to interview senior public affairs officers at the Defence Department was denied, but officials did release a two-line e-mail suggesting the military has long "co-ordinated (communications) with both the minister’s office and the Privy Council Office."
Regulations governing members of the Canadian Forces when they speak with the media were enacted in 1998.
"There has been no change in policy," said the note.
But clamping down on information and interview requests wouldn’t require a formal change in policy, only a political order. [Babbler's highlight]
It's no wonder the policy hasn't been changed: can you imagine the outrage from both the media and the public at large if the government were to officially gag DND? The fact that they're doing it by stealth instead doesn't speak well of the senior bureaucrats at the PCO, the puppetmasters at the PMO, and the Conservative politicians who are, at worst, directing the whole affair, and at best, allowing it to proceed.
What an incredibly short-sighted course of action.
posted by Babbling Brooks at 8:41 a.m.
2 Comments:
In the absence of information people start to make it up.
So you've got the people who are convinced that something sinister is going on behind closed doors. And given that the doors are indeed closed the Government is doing little to get rid of this impression.
And, since you've got no one official talking, you wind up with "experts" being quoted all the time in the news.
dolts.
Bingo, Cam.
They think they're being all Machiavellian and controlling the message, when in truth, they're simply stifling their own voice in the national conversation on defence.
Here's my real concern, though: that this isn't about information. If this is about power, about putting the too-popular Hillier and his increasingly-respected soldiers, sailors, and airmen (& women) of the CF back in their place, then it won't matter to the government whether the Canadian public isn't getting the information it needs to make good decisions.
If this is about power, then those in charge are more interested in making sure the CF is isolated and misunderstood, since that would serve their aims.
I sincerely hope that's not the case, but the evidence is mounting...
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