Author: KEITH_BEARDSLEY

Have you noticed the sudden flood of feel-good news stories around the arrival of a few vaccine doses? I have lost count of the vaccine photo ops from loading on the plane to touch down- just wait and we will see the first Canadian injection, the first Ottawa injection and on and on.

It always interests me when the media does a 180 degree turn on a story. From attacking the government for a vaccine program that will not see most Canadians inoculated until the summertime, to wow it is here!  Has anyone asked how much extra the government paid to rush a shipment here and get themselves of the hook of negative publicity?

I could say it is a slow news week, but it most certainly is not. There are lots of stories out there which have for the government at least been conveniently buried by vaccine photo ops, including Chinese troops were scheduled to train with Canadian troops (can someone find out who the dimwit was who suggested that bright idea- inquiring minds want to know), to the two Michaels; to a new Carbon Tax and another broken Liberal promise and many more.

Instead, every news anchor must breathlessly blabber on about a few doses of a drug arriving on Canadian soil. Also, most TV news bobble-heads continue to spout COVID-19 statistics without giving any details. Why? What are we not supposed to know or is it what are they too lazy to research?

It seems to me, if you want the public to support the measures (including lockdowns) that the government feels it should put in place, you need to give the public more, not less information.

To its credit CBC Ottawa has been doing that with our local numbers. Why can’t we get the same information provincially or nationally?

Being in an at-risk age category and in a business with frequent public contact- I would like to know what parts of the city to avoid and which age groups are driving the uptick in numbers.

CBC Ottawa on Sunday identified the numbers by Ottawa community, plus the age groups which breaks down as follows.

80s: 1     70s: 1     60s: 4      50s: 5      40s: 8      30s: 8      20s: 28      10-19: 11 0-9: 4

It is pretty easy to see the problem group, perhaps Ottawa Public Health needs to have some targeted messaging.

What passes as real news often gets lost on Twitter, a platform on which it seems far too many reporters spend their day regurgitating other reporters’ stories and announcing it on their personal Twitter feed as “BREAKING NEWS.”

Some of you will remember when back in February of 1976, the media dubbed Joe Clark, the newly elected leader of the Conservative party as “Joe Who?”

To his credit, Joe would go on to become Prime Minister and one of the most recognizable names in Canadian politics.

One could say the same today for most of the Conservative “A-Team.” In politics it is a hard fact of life, but you have an A, B and C team. For the opposition parties the A-team are their front benchers and potential cabinet ministers. They should be the face of the party and they are key when it comes to attracting new or swing voters as well as solidifying the party’s base.

Today we are in the middle of a horrible pandemic. Individuals and families are really struggling to make ends meet, pay bills, and keep a roof over their head. Food banks are seeing record numbers using their services and thousands of businesses are barely surviving. People are looking towards the government for help.

Who is the face of the Conservative Party at this time? Who can Canadians look towards to offer them hope? If we look at recent polling numbers, obviously it is still Trudeau. In spite of massive screw-ups, he is still the one that voters see as the most sympathetic to their needs.

Here is a simple exercise for my Conservatives friends on the Hill. Step outside of your bubble and ask nonpolitical friends and neighbours which persons fill the following shadow cabinet roles, all of which have a strong role to play during this pandemic:

• Deputy Leader
• Health critic
• Finance critic
• Seniors critic
• Ethics critic
• Foreign Affairs
• Indigenous Relations
• Mental Health and Wellness
• National Revenue

My guess is that your neighbours might get one or two names correct. I follow politics quite closely and I had to look most of them up. Poilievre at Finance would be the main one and quite possibly the only one most recognize.

There are so many different angles that this government can be attacked on other than finances, taxes, pandemic aid programs etc. Many different groups are looking for someone to offer them some hope and to stand up for them.

I have known Pierre for a long time, he knows his files and he is top notch at what he does, but do the Conservatives really want the Finance critic to be the face of the party during a pandemic? There are some very marketable and successful MPs in that above list, why aren’t we hearing more from them?

Another Covid-19 mess up.

Once again Trudeau is playing word games and laying down a smoke screen to give some cover to his inept ministers and government.

From screwing up the timing of our border closings, to giving China tons of PPE equipment that we needed for our front line workers; to buying lots of vaccine, but without making sure we were at the head of the line.

He can brag about how many doses he bought, but if you can’t deliver them and vaccinate people, it is a hollow victory. Here we are on the edge of 2021 and he really has no firm date, exact numbers, or distribution plan to get Canadians vaccinated. Just another Trudeau screw-up.

Today we learned that most Canadians will only be vaccinated by late September, how many million will that still leave unprotected? How many will die or become seriously ill?

I will also remind people who have worked in government how long it takes Health Canada to approve something, even if the item has already been approved in the USA and several different European countries.

Trudeau has the habit of misleading us over and over- too many broken promises to list here and he gets away with it. Thank goodness this isn’t a Conservative government messing this up or we would be seeing Canadian media with wall to wall negative coverage like we saw them do with Trump.

Trudeau can use “By the end of September” as a good talk point if he is planning a spring election and he is hoping to keep control of this issue until it is over. It provides a sense of hope for people desperately waiting for their turn.

Sadly, from Trudeau it is just a lot of blah, blah blah and its even sadder that the media let him get away with this nonsense.

In politics, perception/optics is everything. This is one reason political attack teams exist.

However, it is rare that any one issue defines your political opponent. It is even rarer in Canadian politics that one issue will bring down a minister or a government. What happens is that over time the constant political hammering helps to shape the public perception of your opponent or their party.

I can think back to the “Mr. Dithers” nickname coined by my attack team which helped to define Prime Minister Paul Martin.

On occasion your opponent hands you a gift in the form of a comment made, or action taken or a major misstep by one of their own team members. We can all remember the disastrous Stephane Dion video in 2008 and his now infamous shrug.

The Conservatives were handed such a gift recently with the revelation that Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi had for years been paying her sister to work in her constituency office- a clear violation of the rules.

The Conservative attack team kicked into high gear. This was a golden opportunity to use this incident to try to reinforce their theme of a corrupt Liberal government with ethical issues.

However, another unwritten rule in politics is don’t throw stones in glass houses. Before you go hell bent on attacking your opponent make sure your side does not face the same issue.

The Conservative attack withered when it was revealed that their former leader, Andrew Scheer, had employed his sister-in-law in his constituency office. It should be noted that this was not against the rules, but that killed the thrust of the Conservative attack. Did no one on the attack team send out an email to all of their MPS to make sure that they were not facing a similar problem? If Scheer knew they were going after Ratansi, did he warn his own team of his issue before they launched their attacks on the Liberals?

The issue for the Conservatives was further clouded when after the story broke, Scheer fired his sister-in-law. Like it or not it leaves the perception that something was wrong. It actually reinforces the Liberal push back. It also confirms the perception that Scheer is a bumbler- remember the claim for education costs for his children that was kept from party members or losing an election that was his to win.

Unless the Conservatives get creative, the Ratansi issue has lost steam and the public is left thinking the Conservatives are no better than the Liberals. That is not the perception they want to leave with voters if they hope to win the next election.

Wouldn’t it be nice to actually watch some Canadian news that does not include wall to wall coverage of Trump or Covid-19?

The Canadian media’s breathless fascination with every tweet from Trump or mutterings of every so-called political expert (99% of whom you have never heard of before) on the USA situation has become repetitious and frankly boring.

The same holds true for the daily Covid updates with our media talking heads breathlessly announcing the new numbers, keeping score hour by hour. How many “expert” medical commentators can they dream up? How about adding some context to the new daily numbers- what age groups, how many were in long term care homes etc. I wear my mask; I am in an at risk age category and a business that brings me into contact with a lot of people- that information is important. If you are going to broadcast numbers give me details.

Believe it or not there is some other Canadian news out there- the destruction of documents intended for a parliamentary committee review (hey guys they are saved on more than one server), a government racking up debt at an alarming pace without bringing in a formal budget (our grandchildren will be paying for Trudeau’s spending), a so-called green plan is coming and I bet there will be no release of economic studies on its impact in the short and long terms. But somehow the colour of Trump’s hair is important.

The truth is its easier to regurgitate numbers supplied to you on Covid-19 than to investigate the details. It is easier to quote Trump and US experts than to do investigative journalism here.

Back in 1970, Canada went through a crisis not seen in recent times. It began with the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross in Montreal on October 9, 1970 by the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec). However, it had been preceded by a wave of some 200 bombings between 1963 and 1970 which killed 6 people.

Within the next two weeks, FLQ members also kidnapped and killed Quebec Minister of Immigration and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte . At that point the Quebec premier and the Mayor of Montreal asked for federal help to deal with the crisis.

Fifty years ago today on October 12^th 1970 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau asked the Canadian Armed Forces to deploy soldiers in Ottawa to protect high-profile people and locations.

“The next day, CBC reporter Tim Ralphe questioned Trudeau at the front entrance of the Parliament Buildings. Ralphe expressed concern about the heavy military presence in the city. Trudeau replied, “Yes, well there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed, but it is more important to keep law and order in the society than to be worried about weak-kneed people.” Ralphe asked Trudeau exactly how far he was willing to go. Trudeau responded, “Well, just watch me.” (Canadian Encyclopedia)

Three days later troops deployed throughout the Montreal area. To quote a Harper era Liberal attack ad there were “troops in the streets”. I was one of them back then, a reservist called up for duty. The crisis would end on December 28, 1970.

One can argue as to whether or not Pierre Trudeau did the right thing. Certainly, invoking the War Measures Act was a heavy-handed way to seek a solution to the crisis. Later studies and a Royal Commission would list many of the civil rights abuses and actions committed by the authorities during this period.

Looking back 50 years ago today, it is interesting to think about how the present Prime Minister would have acted if he were faced with the same set of circumstances.

Once the upcoming throne speech is out of the way, it will be time for Question Period again.

Having been involved with Question Perios (QP) for around 15 years, here are a few thoughts for Eric Duncan, the new QP coordinator for the Conservatives.

1. Hire good support staff just for QP work, you will need it.
2. Sit with the boss and decide on his long-term goals IE what is his strategy to defeat Trudeau.
3. Do not be afraid to consult widely on a QP strategy
4. It is not necessary to give a QP slot to the MP who is convinced he has the perfect issue. Listen politely then you decide
5. The MP who complains the most about not getting a question, is not always right- but have the courtesy to listen to them- perhaps one later in the week or one of the last slots that day will satisfy their needs.
6. Remember every MP needs to be seen in their riding taking part in holding the government to account- perhaps an SO 31 is better than a question?
7. Be prepared for you or your staff to rewrite the question for the MP- most of theirs are too long winded.
8. Sit with a stopwatch and time every practice question- there is no point having one cut off by the speaker.
9. Make every MP show up for QP practice- no excuses accepted. Be prepared to cut someone out of QP if they consistently miss practice.
10. The critic does not need to ask every question on their file- give some to others, especially if important to their riding.
11. Sit with your leader every day there is QP, even if he is not attending- review issues and possible questions, strategy etc. Have the leader practice his questions in front of you and later in front of the MPs at the QP practice session- a lot of the time MPs can offer ideas, rewording etc.- it also builds a sense that they are a team- not individuals grandstanding and performing for the cameras.
12. Your leader should not get down in the muck with his questions, they should be from a Prime Minister in waiting.
13. Identify 3 attack dogs who on a regular basis ask the nasty questions- They must be smart and nimble enough to watch the proceedings and the Liberal answers and then ask a question without it always being handed to them.
14. Feigned outrage can be useful, but never overdo it
15. Remember no one issue will bring a government down. It is the slow cuts day after day that do the job- have a long-range vision.
16. Try to restore some dignity and respect into QP. Remember that the MPs opposite you were also elected to represent the views of their constituents.
17. No one on the other side is your enemy, just parliamentarians with a different policy point of view.
18. Above all have fun- you have one of the most challenging, but awesome jobs on the Hill.

The Conservative leadership race is almost over!

What an over-long drawn out affair it has been. Even with COVID-19, there was no excuse for it to take this long.

With modern technology- including online meetings etc., this should have been over months ago. Imagine if we had a new leader place before the WE scandal unfolded.

By waiting this long to pick a new leader, the party has played into Trudeau’s hands allowing him to seek a confidence vote in September and thereby force an election.

The new Conservative leader is faced with the simultaneous tasks of making sure the party remains united after the leadership vote, hiring and putting in place key staff, setting up a campaign team and organization, working with the fundraising arm of the party and putting together a platform. Each of these items takes time- time Trudeau might not give the new leader.

As of Sunday, the new leader had better be off and running as more years with Trudeau as Prime Minister will be disastrous for the country.

There was a discussion on Twitter over the last few days about the need for Trudeau to hire a PMO staffer to watch over and prevent ethical violations and conflict of interest issues for him.

Let me start by saying this is complete nonsense. There are already more than enough people in the PMO. Every one of them should be looking at protecting the PM from damaging issues.

Let us start with the Chief of Staff. Either the chief is running things or not. If not, why is that person there? If her boss is going to a cabinet meeting, she should know when, where and what is on the agenda. She should also know his position on the cabinet items and have insured he was adequately briefed.

If the Chief of Staff is running things, how could this person not to have intervened and spoken directly to her boss the PM, to both warn him and to keep him away from the situation etc.

Was Trudeau’s comment about pushing back on the WE file a result of Telford cautioning him that he would be stepping over the line?

If she did not step in and caution the PM that is a competency issue. If she did caution Trudeau and he still got involved, then senior staff have a huge problem on their hands with this PM.

Every single staff member in the PMO should be watching out for issues that will damage the PM or hurt the government. I find it impossible to believe that no one on staff saw a problem with Trudeau, his family and WE.

In the end though what really matters is how can this Prime Minister be so blind and so oblivious to ethical and conflict of interest issues? It comes down to knowing right from wrong- something Trudeau clearly has a problem with.

Well the halls of Parliament or at least the video airways reverberated with great sound bites as Trudeau testified on WE or shall we call it the WE scandal.

Now let us be clear, Trudeau did not save himself- he just managed to survive.

The real problem is who cares and who is listening?

This is a real inside the Queensway story that reporters feast on and the general public in the rest of Canada replies with when am I supposed to wear a mask?

Outside of the media and political partisans few people care.

That average voter that the political parties are playing to does not care about the intricacies of whether you recuse yourself or not on an issue.

What is clear is that Trudeau is either lying or incompetent. God help the staffer of Prime Minister Harper or I suspect Chretien or Mulroney who proceeded to bring forth a file the PM had said stop or put a hold on. That some staffer obviously kept the file moving forward shows their contempt for Trudeau’s opinion on files. The question is who was that staffer? It would have to be someone very senior.

This story will blow over because in the end the drop in the polls after Trudeau ended his daily COVID 19 briefings should not be unexpected for the Liberals.

In the end the Conservatives have to elect a new leader who can hire the necessary staff to milk this issue in an election when Canadians actually pay attention. The chances of that happening is anyone’s guess but still to be determined.

Judging by the sudden flood of articles that Trudeau feels Morneau was wrong to have accepted WE trips it looks like Morneau will pay the price. Yes, folks PMO does hint to reporters as to what might happen.

My advice for Trudeau goes back many, many years. Look at who your biggest challenger might be for your job and make that person your finance minister. I wonder who that new minister will be? Pretty obvious actually.