The PM and the press
Election promises give us reason to hope for new era of openness
“One of the most troublesome aspects of the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has been its ironclad control over the flow of information, with the Prime Minister’s Office often acting as the gatekeeper for what the public will be told and when.” Newspapers Canada: Freedom of Information Audit, October 2015.
“For me, open government is effective government. Our objective is nothing less than making transparency a fundamental principle across the Government of Canada.”
Justin Trudeau, Liberal party platform: “A Fair and Open Government,” June 2015
The chasm between the past and the promise is vast.
It is a well-documented fact that the Harper government went to great lengths to control government information and limit the media’s access to information. As the late National Newspaper Awardwinning columnist James Travers wrote in 2010, “There’s no secret about Stephen Harper’s obsessive secrecy.”
Contrast that with the open government pledge of prime minister-designate Trudeau: “As the saying goes, sunlight is the world’s best disinfectant,” he said. “Liberals will shed new light on the government and ensure that it is focused on the people it is meant to serve: Canadians.”
It remains to be seen whether Trudeau can live up to this promise that is so critical to democracy and your right to know. Those given to cynicism must wait — and dare to hope — knowing all too well that many politicians in past have made and fallen short of similar promises.
Indeed, Harper himself had once promised a new era of accountability. In the United States, so too had that purveyor of hope, Barack Obama. Alas, a recent study by the Columbia Journalism Review concluded that “the relationship between the president and the press is more distant than it has been in a half century.”
But I am an optimistic idealist so I am choosing now to believe that a new era of openness can shine in Ottawa with Trudeau at the helm. Like many others, I am hopeful that the flow of public information will vastly improve and our new PM will act honourably on his stated understanding of the vital role of the media in a democracy.
Early signs — albeit, largely symbolic — are encouraging. On the first day after his majority win, Tru- deau held a press conference at the National Press Theatre, “to show my open and transparent government commitment.
“I think it is important to show the important role the media plays in public discourse and public life,” he said at the outset of the press conference chaired by a member of the Ottawa press gallery.
In contrast, Harper rarely visited the press theatre. His press conferences were few and far between and controlled by his communications staff.
Bruce Campion-Smith, the Star’s Ottawa bureau chief for most of Harper’s reign, is cautiously hopeful that Trudeau’s news conference is a positive sign for transparency and democracy.
“The core measure of a government’s openness is whether it is willing to put themselves up for the questions journalists must ask on behalf of the public,” he said. “This is about journalists holding politicians to account, having opportunity to ask tough questions and challenge their statements.
“It is never good for democracy if politicians are allowed to float statements unchallenged.”
It is important to understand that more media access and less control of government information is not about making the job easier for journalists. It is about citizens’ and taxpayers’ right to know — and to question what politicians tell us about our nation and its business. It is about journalists’ responsibility to ask tough questions so they can fully understand government policy and laws in order to explain how they affect Canadians.
A culture of secrecy and managed messages does not serve democracy. That’s why Canadian journalists fought back against the tight information control of the Harper government. In 2010, nine journalism organizations published an open letter decrying threats to the public’s right to know.
“Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the flow of information out of Ottawa has slowed to a trickle,” the letter stated. “Genuine transparency is replaced by slick propaganda and spin designed to manipulate public opinion.”
Of course, nothing changed and things arguably became worse over the past five years. That is why Trudeau’s “open and transparent government” promises could go a long way to change Ottawa’s culture of secrecy for the good of democracy. He has pledged to reform access to information laws, make the disclosure of government information easier and end the muzzling of government scientists.
“To us, open and transparent means getting answers to questions and being able to ask questions,” said Campion-Smith, who looks forward to the Star’s journalists “holding this government to account, just as we have every other government.
“The test of course will come when the first real controversy emerges. Will they pull up the drawbridge?”
I am enough of a realist to understand that is a distinct possibility. But as this new era dawns, let us all hope that Trudeau’s call for “sunny ways” does indeed shine much-needed light on Canada’s government. publiced@thestar.ca