rabble.ca Canadian federal election blog

Polling CanWest: Vote Harper!

by Ben Powless

Now we all know the mainstream media has their little biases. Anyone who’s read Herman and Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent, anything by Bob McChesney, has heard of Judy Rebick, or has read a newspaper would be reasonably able to rhyme off a dozen reasons why our media is inherently conservative (little c).

Yet it’s not so often that we get such a stark reminder about just how much the major papers belonging to CanWest pander so much to the Conservative party.

Yesterday, as I sat by the lake at my mom’s farm, reading about the world economy disintegrating around us, I came upon the editorial in the Ottawa Citizen, fully endorsing the Harperites. And I began to wonder what other Asper-family voiceboxes had done the same.

The Ottawa Citizen followed Harper’s paradigm, and claimed it to be about leadership, and little else (quoting principle and resolve, and not what you do with it – didn’t we learn this lesson in the 1940’s?).

The Vancouver Province couches it is as strong economic resolve in these troubling times (Naomi Klein, anyone?) – we can’t change the captain in rough seas, even if he’s heading for an iceberg, and thinks of us as cargo, not crew. The Vancouver Sun rains sunshine on Harper’s days in office. That animosity to the news media? All forgiven!

The Calgary Herald boasts of his incredible human rights record (have they followed the news?) especially around the Israel-Lebanon conflict. They are touted as scandal-free (have they heard of Chuck Cadman? Aboriginal issues?) and end with “The Calgary Herald endorses Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.” Though to be fair, they are probably all good buddies, and there’s no harm in that, right?

In much-contested Quebec, the Montreal Gazette pulls no bars in declaring its full support of Harper, but acknowledges they won’t win around Montreal, and calls on readers to vote against the Bloc however they can, after brushing off Quebecois concerns over stiff sentencing and arts cuts.

At least readers in Windsor were treated to a more balanced assessment of party vs. person, acknowledging that the Tories may not be the best representatives in the region.  The National Post held back too, only publishing a disgruntled diatribe against Dion’s language skills, perhaps reserving itself for voting day.

What ever happened to even the pretence of media independence? At least we can be thankful the voice of CanWest has chosen to bare itself for all to see.

So it’s all the more fitting to see such a stirring reminder of why we need independent media and analyses like those found at www.rabble.ca – among others.

We Don’t Mean to Interrupt Your Election, But…

by Ben Powless

Obviously oblivious to the ongoing elections occurring and the need for patriotism therefore, Aboriginal groups in Canada remained up-in-arms over the past week.

On Monday, the Walk for Justice finished its walk from Vancouver to Ottawa with a rally on Parliament Hill. Their demands? Justice. Specifically, justice for the thousands of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and their families who fall through the cracks of the justice system.


(Pictures here)

Thursday saw the (sadly predictable) revelation that Harperites are harbouring racists [video/background]. Not that the Liberals have been much better, with some of their candidates dropping out. A sad reality that this is the only way Native issues get into the media, and a daily reminder of the racism that still manages to surface, but so what? How about the actual policies being pursued by the government? One such policy has been the recently passed Specific Claims Act Bill, dealing with specific claims and grievances of Native communities (as opposed to those non-specific claims, the comprehensive type).

Despite assurances by top Native and government leadership, it has been criticized for not helping to resolve fiery disputes like Caledonia (after the issue again heated up Saturday). The government remains judge, jury and defendant in a still biased system that equates Aboriginal rights (and wrongs) to government money, as if that will resolve the issues.

The government has also been pushing through racist and patronizing legislation on matrimonial property rights that have been roundly criticized by Native women’s groups among others.  Its ultimate goal seems to be the ability to make reserve land sellable to non-Natives, effectively destroying the reserve system.

And Sunday night, as the Olympic “Spirit Train” made its debut in BC, Native protestors and allies effectively shut the show down, voicing longstanding and unmet concerns about how the Olympics was taking over unceded Native land (ignited by the arrest and subsequent passing of Native elder Harriet Nahanee), and causing homelessness throughout downtown Vancouver. Is the Spirit Train coming to your town?

This brief reality check on the real state of Aboriginal Affairs now subsiding, we return you to your regularly scheduled election programming.