A Complete Transcript of the Meeting Between the PMO and the Press Gallery Makes It Clear Press Issues Are Much Worse Than Is Generally Being Reported

Stephen's Harpers government has been forcing draconian cuts in how the press can cover items. There is a complete Transcript of meeting between PMO and Press Gallery officials on March 24, 2006 now available in which the press tried to deal with the recent issues surrounding press coverage.

I found it very interesting to read. There are in fact more press issues than are making the general news. It isn't all that long so if the issue interests you i encourage you to read it. I think we are getting into a dangerous period with how the press are being treated. And in fact i was struck by the pettiness of some of the things the government is not doing (including answering telehphones that other governments have managed to answer for years).

One of the main areas of discussion was the fact that Harper's office was choosing who would ask questions. The press people came up with a very reasonable way of dealing with the complaint of the government that if who could ask questions wasn't limited there could be many people competing. A microphone or two where the press could line up and ask questions based on who was in line. Apparently this doesn't deal with the concern over orderliness, which seems to be to be a clear indication (if we needed any) that the Harper government is doing all it can to limit what the press can cover.

Finally the answers that are given to the press's concerns seem to often be on the ridiculous side. Such as private meetings between foreign ministers being a private affair and therefore not notifying the press of the meeting.

And this was a government that said they would bring in accountability. It was the press that broke Adscam. Sure the press isn't perfect and i think it is far to right wing in Canada. But limiting what the press can cover is even worse.

The transcript is short and not difficult to read. I strongly suggest that everyone take a look at it. The situation is worse than we are currently being told. The link is to Politics Watch Canada and there is little doubt that the transcript is accurate. Additionally it was similar to a partial transcript i read elsewhere in the news today.

When the press can't cover what the government is doing we are getting into dangerous times. P