Canadian PM likes muzzling dissent, limiting free speech

Stephen Harper MUZZLING CABINET MINISTERS, MPs, JUDGES, ETC.

How Harper controls the spin:

Zeal to manage message sees journalists shunned, bureaucrats, cabinet ministers routinely muzzled. Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429906

PM slaps muzzle on military brass
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2006/04/15/1535119-sun.html

Hillier, Sr.Officials Muzzled by PMO
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,42247.0.html

Mum’s the word: Harper tells MPs to keep mouths shut
http://www.carleton.ca/ctown/archiv/mar3106/Insite2.htm

Tories tighten muzzle on PS [Public Service] for campaign
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=93e98b5c-593a-4eac-b835-a4359e80babd

Former chief justice of Canada accuses PM of trying to "muzzle" the judiciary
http://www.anticorruption.ca/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4792&sid=44cad6d7756e9bd7010d182cb62e00da

'Muzzle' Placed On Federal Scientists
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=47bf0fba-b98f-43fb-89fb-58b6464a7b24&k=65248

Tories muzzle environmental scientist
http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=8942

Minister stops book talk by Environment Canada scientist
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/04/13/ambrose-climate.html

Mum's the word till message vetted
No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/429903

Harper lawsuit smacks of authoritarian state: prof
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/07/harper-lawsuit.html

Holland shocked by Conservative comments on media
http://www.markholland.ca/news/2006/060331harpermedia.htm

Harper government whips Tories into line with secret handbook
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/columnists/story.html?id=b8122d51-95e8-4b29-b99b-34217406425d

Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told The Hill Times recently that the Harper government has been quietly drafting about 25 government policies that impact on the rights of officers of Parliament, and that it has been happening without their knowledge or input.
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/members/login.php?fail=2&destination=/html/cover_index.php?display=story&full_path=/2008/may/12/spindoctors/

Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080325.wtorytalk0325/BNStory/National/home

Feds keep lid on Atomic Energy Canada sale report
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Feds+keep+Atomic+Energy+Canada+sale+report/2121029/story.html

Huge loss expected in any AECL sale, MPs concede
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Huge+loss+expected+AECL+sale+concede/2129653/story.html

Is he sitting on it?
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan still has not tabled the 2008 report from the Commissioner of Firearms. Knowing the report will likely be favourable to the existing gun registry, many have questioned whether Van Loan is suppressing the report until after tonight's vote on scrapping the long gun registry.
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2009/11/is-he-sitting-on-it.html

Canada slips in 'press freedom' rankings
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/712978--canada-slips-in-press-freedom-rankings

Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/704155

Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090929/taliban_prisoners_090929/20090929?hub=Canada

Has Canada entered a 'Bush-like vortex'?
Richard Colvin's torture allegations suggest civil servants aren't writing down what the government doesn't want recorded
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/has-canada-entered-a-bush-like-vortex/article1404311/

PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07
Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/729157--pmo-issued-instructions-on-denying-abuse-in-07

Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-attack-credibility-of-diplomat-who-blew-whistle-on-torture/article1369993/

Attack on senior diplomat signals demise of independent public service: experts
"If we don’t have a public service that speaks truth to power we might as well have everything run out of the Prime Minister’s Office.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Attack+Colvin+signals+demise+independent+public+service/2283460/story.html

Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/diplomats-told-to-keep-quiet-on-torture-allegations-sources-say/article1367390/

Former ambassadors condemn Ottawa's attack on diplomat
Response to Colvin's detainee testimony discourages honest reports, letter says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/former-ambassadors-condemn-ottawas-attack-on-diplomat/article1392248/

Public service in crisis over Colvin
The Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Public+service+crisis+over+Colvin/2285239/story.html

Afghan detainee watchdog warns of Tory ‘chilling effect'
Departing military commission chief's [BECAUSE HE WAS REFUSED REAPPOINTMENT BY THE TORIES] comments come as Harper government digs in its heels in face of parliamentary order to turn over confidential files
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/afghan-detainee-watchdog-warns-of-tory-chilling-effect/article1397570/

Detainee watchdog post remains unfilled
Military police commission set to meet in March, but Ottawa's delays in appointing new chairman could prompt delay
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/detainee-watchdog-post-remains-unfilled/article1428874/

Feds refuse legal funding to whistleblower diplomat
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091027/whistleblower_legal_091027/20091027?hub=Canada
Ottawa's stance on whistleblower's legal costs called 'unethical'
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/716489--ottawa-s-stance-on-whistleblower-s-legal-costs-called-unethical

Feds tried to order nuclear regulator to bend rules
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071218/reactor_order_071218/20071218?hub=Politics

Ottawa fires nuclear safety commission head [nuclear regulator]
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/2008/01/ottawa_fires_nuclear_safety_co.html

Ousted regulator just doing her job
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/294886

Tories drop RCMP complaints commissioner
Paul Kennedy sparred with government over office's powers, budget
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/731775--tories-drop-rcmp-complaints-commissioner

Clement slams CMA doctors for supporting drug-injection site
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=732204

Scientific data backs Insite
http://www.straight.com/scientific-data-backs-insite

Budget officer [Kevin Page] questions projected federal surplus
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Budget+officer+questions+projected+surplus/1054174/story.html

If the object of the exercise was “truth in budgeting”, that’s what Kevin’s office provided. But that realism, whether in regard to rosy but flawed government fiscal forecasts or the true cost of the war in Afghanistan, has been a bit too much truth for this government. Mr. [Kevin] Page’s office has had its budget cut by one million dollars.
http://informedvote.ca/2009/11/07/our-parliamentary-budget-officer-kevin-page-%E2%80%93-a-canadian-hero/

Conservatives stop funding for learning organization
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-stop-funding-for-learning-organization/article1423912/

Ottawa is cutting off public input into climate-change policy
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Ottawa+cutting+public+input+into+climate+change+policy/2126254/story.html

Tory candidate dumped for frank TV comments: Mused riding wouldn't get infrastructure cash because it's Liberal-held
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/702396

Tory candidates avoiding debates [Election Campaign, 2008]
Campaign official says 'there's no policy' forbidding participation in certain all-candidates' meetings
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/510147

Gov't program wants job applicants' views on Tory budget
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091104/interns_federal_091104/20091104?hub=QPeriod

Insults, discourtesy and disrespect mark Harper team's behaviour: Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star
http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00145


More Stephen Harper attacks on democracy