Democracy or Dictatorship - Canada's "New" Government

One of the most important actions of any successful dictatorship is to control the masses.

The easiest and best way to accomplish that task is to control the news media.

By controlling what the public hears and sees, always being seen in the best possible light dictators around the world protect their place of power and limit any potential for uprising or dissent.

Why did Saddam Hussein plaster giant pictures of himself around Iraq?

Why did Hitler hold mass public cult like rallies with hundreds of thousands in attendance?

Why did the former Soviet Union allow only the state run news service to exist for decades and why are journalists being murdered in Russia even today?

Clearly the reason is to control the public and retain power.

Unfortunately, for anyone with dictatorial aspirations in a Country like Canada, the state can’t just shoot dissident reporters, take over commercial media outlets (with the exception of the CBC) or arrest people for speaking out against them. But perhaps there is no need for such an extreme approach when a more subtle one can work just as well.

Perhaps, for example, if you were leading the Canadian government you could simply refuse to talk to certain “unfriendly” reporters and, by using them as an example, force the rest to fall in line.

Of course if that tactic is not fully accomplishing the task and government spin is still not getting enough air time or stories that show your party in a bad light just won’t go away, it might be time to move to plan B.

Today Stephen Harper is already working on plan B and in doing so is removing one more road block on the road to gagging the press, blindfolding the masses and manipulating voters.

According to recent reports Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been working on a secret project for over a year that would see a $2-million government controlled media centre built in Ontario.

According to the Toronto Star, documents obtained through the Access to Information Act prove the PM is working on a plan, code-named the Shoe Store Project, that would see government build a new media centre. The centre would provide his government with easier control of the media and of the messages the public get to hear from Ottawa.

The documents show that this new centre would replace the 47-year-old National Press Theatre, a venue where government news conferences are moderated by members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association, a group of newspapers, broadcasters and other media outlets. The new government controlled media centre would instead be managed and moderated by hand picked individuals answerable only to government and not the press gallery.

One document obtained by the Star shows that the media centre is part of efforts by the government to "put in place robust physical and information security measures to protect the prime minister and cabinet."

The preceding quote may not appear very ominous but it certainly raises a lot of questions and concerns.

If the physical security of the PM is what’s in question here then perhaps a new press venue is indeed in order, but why would a simple change of venue require the government, rather than media itself, to control and moderate press conferences and events?

What exactly does “information security” mean anyway?

Is the PM looking for physical protection in an age of terrorists and assassins or is he actually seeking protection from the press, the public and the truth?

“The Shoe Store Project” calls for complete government control over which journalists are allowed to attend news conferences and which are not. In other words, those who don’t play along or are seen as being perhaps “troublesome” could, and probably would, be barred. They would be denied the ability to ask questions that might not suit the government agenda but might truly inform the public.

The “project” would give the Harper government the ability to do its own filming at all media events, and to provide government approved footage to journalists, instead of allowing those journalists to film the events themselves. I’d love to see the design for the new building because I’m willing to bet the editing room will be nothing less than state of the art.

Does this plan make anyone else uncomfortable?

Not only is the Harper government planning to take full control over which reporters can or cannot ask him and his ministers questions but he is also making sure he has full control of the video and sound bytes the public are able to see on the evening news. I hope this bothers everyone because it sure as hell gives me a cold chill.

It doesn't always take a political upheaval to turn a democracy into a dictatorship, sometimes all that's required are a series of small baby steps.

In Canada today Big Brother is already deciding who can or cannot travel by air and this is being done without even informing denied individuals of why they are on government’s no-fly lists.

According to recent news reports certain Jewish citizens, and perhaps those of other faiths as well, have begun mysteriously appearing on mailing lists compiled by the PMO, even though those individuals have no idea how the Prime Minister’s Office knows about their religious affiliations.

Canadian citizens have had misinformation about their actions and character handed over to foreign officials without their knowledge. In at least one well publicized case an individual was deported while traveling in the U.S. and tortured for over a year in a foreign country because of government misinformation passed to U.S. authorities.

Now the PM, who has always controlled which reporters he will or will not take questions from, has put the entire country on a very slippery slope. A slope that allows government to have far more control over mainstream news media than at any time in the past and gives him the ability to control what the public is made aware of in print, television and other media.

Welcome to the other side of looking glass people. For those who have long wondered who Big Brother really is, wonder no longer, he lives at 24 Sussex Drive.