Video: Turning the camera on the media at Canada at 150

Here at Canada at 150, the accredited bloggers have been given media passes and we're embedded with the infamous mainstream media, attending the press conferences and hanging-out in the back of the room on media row. It's been interesting talking to the journalists about their impressions of the conference, and how they cover things like this.

I thought it would be interesting to turn my camera on the media, and ask a few of the journalists here what they think the Liberals need to get out of the Canada at 150 conference this weekend. That's the question I put in this video to CanWest's David Akin, CP's Joan Bryden and the National Post/Calgary Herald's Don Martin.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers

A tragically dumb column

The dumb column of the day award goes to Conservative apologist Don Martin, who coughed-up this embarrassing entry in the National Post:

Dead ducks are no 'tragedy'
Let's stop tarring and feathering Syncrude
Don Martin, National Post Published: Tuesday, May 06, 2008

CALGARY -Stephen Harper does not empathize easily.

The Prime Minister values self-reliance and a suck-it-up mentality in Canadians confronted by difficult circumstances and, except for cats, this feline fan doesn't fret about problems in the animal kingdom.

Which is why Mr. Harper's "terrible tragedy" designation for 500 unfortunate ducks that picked a toxic Syncrude oilsands sludge pond for their final dip last week, a casualty count that could be inflicted by just 55 hunters in a single day under Alberta duck-hunting limits, was so uncharacteristic.
(more)

Shorter Don Martin: F**k the ducks.

He’s completely off base. If Don dislikes overblown rhetoric though, he’d do well to advise to advise Stephen Harper to get serious about environmental protection in the oilsands, and move away the industry self-police mantra so favoured by the right towards real protection and real enforcement to balance the oilsands development with the good of the environment.

Fact is, if Harper didn’t have zero credibility in this area he wouldn’t have to call it a tragedy. Indeed, he’s overcompensating because he’s seen as an industry stooge and, as Don noted, people get very sensitive when it comes to animals.

Another shorter Don Martin: Leave the poor oil companies alone!

There's the possibility this incident could be a canary in the mineshaft. It should be fully investigated by the appropriate authorities, punitive actions taken as allowed for my legislation, and steps taken to ensure it doesn't happen again. That would be an even greater tragedy. The oil companies are making very good money in the oil sands, and they have a responsibility to us to ensure they're doing so as safely and cleanly as possible.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers

You can always count on the National Post for half the story

In how many ways is Don Martin’s column in the National Compost Tuesday full of it? Really too many to count, but I’ll mention a few anyways.

Don’s thesis is that according to a recent poll, men tend to statistically favour the Conservatives over the Liberals, 41 per cent to 27 per cent according to Don’s Ipsos poll.

A question for Don. He says:

But what's even more sobering for Liberals is that Mr. Harper's negatives are concentrated in young to middle-aged women of lower to middle incomes.

Those approaching retirement or enjoying a $60,000-plus salary tend to side with Mr. Harper, a split decision that keeps Conservatives in a dead heat with Liberals among women voters nationwide.

Now Ipsos doesn’t release the full tables, and Don doesn’t quote any stats for women supporters, who in the stats I’ve seen from other polls vastly favour the Liberals. Unsupported by stats, he claims women are split between the Liberals and the Conservatives, and men are vastly favouring the Liberals. How, then, prey tell, does this same poll show:

The survey, administered March 18-20 by Ipsos Reid, showed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives and the Liberals led by Stephane Dion are in a virtual tie in public support. The Grits, with 33 per cent of the decided vote, were up two points from a previous poll conducted March 4-6. The Tories remained at 35 per cent.

If men vastly favour the Cons, and women are divided, or as Don as, “in a dead heat” then why aren’t the Cons way ahead? Why are they tied? Is there some third sex out there with massive Liberal support I’m not aware of?

If anyone with an Ipsos subscription out there could share the raw numbers on female support I’d appreciate it. The last numbers from Nanos (SES) I could find with a gender breakdown are from November, and they had decided voters at men C40.1 to L30.9, and women L37.6 to C30.6.

Anyway, moving on from the incomplete numbers and Don’s ignoring of salient but inconvenient to his premise points, I will grant him men do tend to favour the Conservatives. Let’s move on to why Don thinks this is.

Besides Stephane Dion’s overall wimpiness compared to Stephen Harpers, *cough*, rugged masculinity, it’s the Liberal platform says Don:

The party platform is not expected to be much of a male magnet either, specifically a focus on fighting homelessness, enhancing daycare, boosting education tax advantages and imposing emission caps on greenhouse gas producers.

Is he serious with this crap? Yeah, I’m a guy and I agree, fighting homelessness is so girly and feminine. Enhancing daycare? Take off the dress Doris! Education and the environment? Who cares! Get back in the kitchen and make me a pie while I go scratch myself and watch football.

But the Conservative platform, says Don. It’s enough to make a man chug a six pack, belch, and pass out on the couch after beating-up some nerds:

The Conservative alternative practically oozes testosterone -- boosted military spending for Afghanistan, reasserted northern sovereignty and tax cuts with specific benefits targeted at male-dominated trucking and trades.

Yeah, guns make stuff go boom! And only men drive trucks or work in the trades. Manly men. (Not to be confused with Manley men). Men’s men. Why, it’s a veritable stereotype jamboree from our friend Don.

I will give Don one point:

To have any hope of recapturing 'Y' chromosomes, Liberal insiders admit they'll need to successfully attack Mr. Harper on the government's ethical and economic shortcomings.

This is true. And given the laundry list of Conservative flip-floppery on maters ethical that should be easy. And Dion does need to get tougher. Kicking some ass in Quebec would be a good place to start.

Maybe some photo-ops with his dog. After all, Harper is a cat person. To lapse into lame Don Martin-like generalizations, dogs are manly pets. They practically ooze testosterone. Cats are girly and lame, eww. Men won’t support a cat guy.

But seriously, he glosses over Harper’s challenge though:

The key to a majority mandate for the Conservatives is to win over Metro Toronto women, Mr. Bricker notes...

Yeah, good luck with that one Steve. Not just women, but Toronto women? Just keep telling everyone Ontario sucks, keep reducing female clout in your cabinet, and keep ignoring female priorities and you’ll be fine.

I'm sure in some future column Don will devote some column inches to Steve's challenges there...

UPDATE: Thank-you to mrvnmouse in the comments for providing the numbers for female support, which are:

Women Con/Lib/NDP - 29/38/15

So, when Don says "Conservatives in a dead heat with Liberals among women voters nationwide" he means a nine-point Liberal lead. A dead heat Don, really? I see now why you didn't include those actual numbers in your piece.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers

Funny line of the day: Don Martin

National Post columnist Don Martin, commenting on the Harper government's recent communications cock-ups and the troubles of flacks Sandra Buckler and Dimitri Soudas, whose jobs are unlikely to be in jeopardy despite recent performance:

To get fired by this government, you have to do your job defending nuclear plant safety against the PMO's wishes.

Heh. Sounds about right.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers