Marginal Notes: Harper, Let Your Senior Staffers in On the Spin

Like so many of us, one of my friends in my Facebook network recently made a comment against Harper's proroguing of the Parliament.

I noticed some comments in response to this which I read through quickly.

So, Mr. X writes:

"It's the 104th time it has been prorogued in not even 150 years in Canada. Why is this time such a travesty compared to the others?"

And, later:

"I can say that I work with these folks, and I can tell you that I have never seen a policy, or problem with the gays, who are well represented in the ministerial staffs, and cabinet. Not sure what happened re the single mothers either as the amount that can be earned tax-free has increased."

I wrote a very quick response that some may not agree with, but here it is:

"It happens so many times because it is a normal part of the parliamentary process to 'prorogue' the Parliament after the course of a session and/or before announcing a new agenda. Most political analysts agree that prior to Harper rule, it has only been used ONCE before in history to shut down and/or avoid business. It is a very big deal when it used to avoid, first, a vote of non-confidence in the Parliament and, second, the investigations into torture of detainees.

Also, on the issue of single mothers, I would say removing 'equality' from the mandate of Status of Women Canada is kinda a big deal to all us women. And, the tax credit set childcare policy way back. So, if you work with these people, please actually learn about the policies instead of making all your decisions based on what seem to be very superficial readings of how the Harper government has impacted the citizens of this country."

OK, so that may seem unremarkable. At this point, I have taken about 3 minutes to read these comments and post this response. Then, I wonder in what capacity Mr. X works with the Harper government. I go back a re-read all of Mr. X's comments and see that he has declared that he is a "senior staffer" for one of Harper's cabinet ministers.

REALLY?!

I am not shocked so much by the obvious bias in his views - such as referring to gay people as "the gays." What blows my mind is that a Harper senior staffer doesn't know his own party's spin. When the Harper camp throws out the de-contextualized statistic to the mainstream media that the Parliament has been prorogued in Canada 104 times in 150 years, they are spinning the story; they are not dumb enough to attempt sincere debate around this fact.

Harper, you know the difference between spin and facts that can stand up in debate to support your case. And, you most certainly know how to dodge discussion when you are on the losing side of an argument. So, let your senior staffers in on the game plan.

Your government already looks scared. When your senior staffers make such novice mistakes as opening debates on facts that should be left hanging as spin, your government just looks stupid.