Non-denial denial
Note the language of this letter in today's Toronto Sun:
I'll make you a bet that's this letter was the fastest approval from PCO that the NDHQ Public Affairs types have seen in months. If only they could get turnaround on, y'know, substantive matters relating to the defence of the nation as promptly.
Mme. Touchette has said nothing special here; on the contrary, its what she doesn't say that speaks loudest. There has been no change in the regulations, it's true. But I'd suggest that that is because the government knows all too well that there would be a public backlash if they officially muzzled the CF. No, why make trouble for yourself when you can stifle DND communications with an unofficial, verbal-instructions-only freeze.
What the ADM(PA) and her bosses at the PCO and PMO can't change is the understanding of people who actually deal with DND Public Affairs. We know that we used to get good information promptly in most cases, and we know that now we don't, even for the most innocuous of requests. We're not fabricating this out of thin air, folks.
Here's what I'd like all of the people in charge of this charlie-foxtrot to ask themselves, while they look hard into a mirror: does this stifling of DND serve the best interests of the Canadian people in the long run?
You know the answer. So why are you doing it?
Re "Bureaucrats clamp down on military info" (Dec. 11): I would like to correct the record regarding assertions made by Ret. Col. Michel Drapeau about military communications. Canadian Forces (CF) regulations, which govern CF engagement with the media, have been in place since 1998. There has been no change in policy. As has always been the case with all Government of Canada departments, communications are coordinated with both the minister's office and the Privy Council Office.
Josee Touchette
Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Affairs
Department of National Defence
I'll make you a bet that's this letter was the fastest approval from PCO that the NDHQ Public Affairs types have seen in months. If only they could get turnaround on, y'know, substantive matters relating to the defence of the nation as promptly.
Mme. Touchette has said nothing special here; on the contrary, its what she doesn't say that speaks loudest. There has been no change in the regulations, it's true. But I'd suggest that that is because the government knows all too well that there would be a public backlash if they officially muzzled the CF. No, why make trouble for yourself when you can stifle DND communications with an unofficial, verbal-instructions-only freeze.
What the ADM(PA) and her bosses at the PCO and PMO can't change is the understanding of people who actually deal with DND Public Affairs. We know that we used to get good information promptly in most cases, and we know that now we don't, even for the most innocuous of requests. We're not fabricating this out of thin air, folks.
Here's what I'd like all of the people in charge of this charlie-foxtrot to ask themselves, while they look hard into a mirror: does this stifling of DND serve the best interests of the Canadian people in the long run?
You know the answer. So why are you doing it?
posted by Babbling Brooks at 10:20 a.m.
3 Comments:
Because they are politicians and they don't care about the long term good of Canadians, the CF or even Canada?
Or maybe they care so much about politics that they've convinced themselves that their control fetish is what's best for Canada.
http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/defencewatch/archive/2007/12/14/gag-on-this-you-scum-sucking-media-devil-dogs.aspx
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