MEPs and Control in the Harper Conservative Regime
More news reveals Harper’s obsession with control. Message Event Proposals (MEPs) are special forms used to control speaking engagements and messages that officials engage in. These are troubling because they suggest partisan efforts are sneakily mixing with regular work, worse the PMO controls the content of MEPs. MEPs provide insight into the almost sublime extent of the propaganda machine the Conservatives have built.
The Globe and Mail1 (6 June 2010) reported on even Conservatives questioning this method of communication.
“The MEP is the crucial communication instrument for a minority government that values staying on message above all else — a transformation that federal officials and public-policy analysts say is undermining democracy.
While all governments try to control the message, the ambitious sweep of MEPs is unprecedented in federal politics. Critics say it contradicts the core campaign promise that brought Prime Minister Stephen Harper to power — introducing a new era of transparency and accountability in government.
“We discussed every single issue and micromanaged every news release — everything,” said one former Harper-era PCO official.”
The Canadian Press reportedly has about a thousand of these MEPs and they extend into all sorts of realms of discourse, including foreign relations and events. The Star2 (8 June 2010) also reported on MEPs saying
“There’s no question it has a bit of a chilling effect on people, because they know that they have to avoid being off-message at all — and that’s what the government wants,” said one currently serving diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of career reprisals.
The central direction of foreign service officers is unparalleled, says retired diplomat Gordon Smith, who served Conservative and Liberal prime ministers as Canada’s ambassador to NATO and the European Union, was a former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and a senior official at PCO.
“What other conclusion can one draw? But it reflects a very considerable concentration of power in the Prime Minister’s Office,” said Smith, who left government to join the University of Victoria in 1997.”
When the Conservatives don’t want information spread they simply disappear a MEP. When they do want to manage how it’s spread, they approve the MEP and control its content. That way they can be prepared to respond to and test public perceptions. Furthermore it gives them the opportunity to always shape public perspective in favour of Conservative doctrine.
The CBC3 reported (7 June 2010) on one example of the use and effect of MEPs with respect to Canadian ivnolvement in Afganistan.
“The government used MEPs to script the words it wanted to hear from the mouths of its top diplomats, aid workers and cabinet ministers in 2007-08 to divert public attention from the soaring double-digit death toll of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.”
This is a frightening extension of control. It’s reminiscent of the propaganda techniques used in totalitarian regimes. In a democratic society we should not have a government exhibiting this degree of control over the context and content of information regarding our country and goings-ons.
