Public Manipulation and the Government of Canada

Manipulation of the public, rather than running the nation, has been the main job of politicians in Canada throughout history.

From a Newfoundland and Labrador perspective, perhaps one of the best examples of this was the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord a number of years back. If you ask almost anyone in Canada how the Accord died most will tell you it was defeated by Newfoundland and Labrador premier, Clyde Wells.

Not true.

It wasn’t defeated by Clyde Wells or the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. In reality Wells planned to hold a vote in the Legislature which would almost assuredly have defeated it, but that vote never happened.

Elijah Harper, an NDP backbencher in the Winnipeg legislature, caused the deal to fail in that province and as a result there was no reason to hold the vote in NL.

So why does nearly everyone believe NL killed Meech?

Because it’s what the federal Conservative government, under Brian Mulroney wanted them to believe. That was the spin they put on it and, assisted by corporate mainstream media outlets it worked like a charm.

They blamed Newfoundland and Labrador because, as one honest columnist put it, "it was more politically acceptable to lash out at Newfoundland than to do it to an aboriginal politician".

This was a clear cut case of political manipulation to manufacture a more palatable version of history. It’s not an isolated incident.History is full of such manipulations by political leaders and parties in this Country.

Public manipulation happens every day but most of the time it's so subtle nobody even notices.

Ask yourself, why would politicians, who are certainly not shy about speaking in public, even bother to have “media experts”, or as they are often called, “Spin Doctors” on staff? I mean if they truly were as “honorable” as their title implies what would be the need?

The simple answer is to spin the story in a favorable light so they can make a kick in the stones sound like a pat on the back.

One of the most enduring and widespread of manipulations is, and has been, perpetrated as a matter of course by every federal member since the formation of Canada itself.

Without fail voters are encouraged to believe that they elect a federal member to represent them, their riding and their province in Ottawa.

Not so.

This may be the intent of the voters and it’s what politicians want you to believe, but that doesn’t make it true.

The truth is, when elected, these men and women do not represent voter’s interests in Ottawa. They represent Ottawa’s interests to the voters.

Many of them miss votes in the house, don’t stand up in support of the moral and social conscience of their constituents nearly all refuse to lock horns with members of their party on issues important to their constituents.

They feed from the public trough, follow the herd and have the audacity to visit their home provinces so they can more directly manipulate the unwashed masses by handing out paving contracts or arts funding while explaining why the decision they just allowed to happen was for the best.

Though by no means alone, perhaps two of the best examples of this are the misrepresentations of Conservative Loyola Hearn and Liberal John Efford, during his time in Ottawa.

Both of these men (and I use the term "men" very loosely) backed their respective parties over the people who counted on them and both did it over the same issue, the Atlantic Accord.

Closer to home, regular readers of my articles often witness the type of manipulation I’m speaking of in the comments of people like Wallace Mclean (WJM) who, unless his occupation has changed very recently, works for federal MP Todd Russell. A fact he has never admitted to on the site but one he also refused to refute, even after being given 3 separate opportunities to do so immediately prior to the release of this article.

I have to say though I think the Honorable Todd Russell should be careful since Wallace's statements, in my opinion, may be federalist in nature as intended but more often than not seem to help shore up the Conservative government rather than making a case for Mr. Russell's Liberal party, but I digress.

The same sort of manipulation happens with other’s who haunt this site on a regular basis as well. Not all of them are paid directly by any political party of course, but you can bet your bottom dollar there are connections that can be made.

When it comes to manipulating the public no issue, or public comment, is too big or too small for the spin doctors to address.

Whether it’s convincing the nation that while raking in multi-billion dollar surpluses the federal government can’t afford to cut taxes or spend more on social programs, or claiming that not one comma of the Atlantic Accord was affected by the recent budget, public manipulation is a full time job and these guys are good what they do.

It’s a wonder our politicians have time to fully imbed one lie in the public consciousness before moving on to the next. Imagine what they could accomplish if they only used their power for good instead of evil.

Regardless of it all I just love the Canadian democratic system don’t you? It’s a model for the entire world to emulate. At least that’s what I’ve been told.