Nothing illustrated the contrasts between the strategy of the opposition parties and that of the NDP as week 2 came to a close, than the nighttime report on Friday by Kim Lawson of CJOB. A number of listeners made mention of it to us, and with good reason.
She started off by reporting that PC leader Hugh McFadyen pledged to extend operations of clinics to take the pressure off emergency brooms, add ambulances and paramedics, and initiate a specialized stroke unit to save lives; then that Liberal leader Jon Gerrard was focusing on investigating abuse of the elderly in personal care homes and the over-prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs as a way to numb patients despite the added risk of causing strokes.
Those were substantive proposals that spoke to the problems and worries of voters about their families and how health care delivery is managed.
Kim Lawson contrasted what the opposition leaders did on Friday, with what the NDP leader did.
Greg Selinger held a press conference with the owners of the Winnipeg Jets.
To hear her recap what she saw and heard in her report on the campaign day, was kind of startling to listeners. They made a point to let us know about Lawson's summary.
The un-elected Premier engaged in what the front page of the Winnipeg Sun proclaimed was outright cheating, by making a government announcement while hiding behind the purity of the Return of the Jets.
Perhaps his brain-trust figured no one would dare complain about something targeted at 'helping at-risk kids', even if they realized the law prohibited government announcements within 90 days of the vote. Maybe they planned on arguing that it was exempt from the legislation because it related to theories about child safety. But once media outlets, including ChrisD.ca and CBC, slugged their headlines as "Province and Jets team up" rather than "NDP promises to team up with Jets", it was obviously not a 'misunderstanding'. CBC, CJOB, The Sun, CTV, all picked up on the blatant breach of the Elections Act by the NDP.
If it were a misunderstanding, Selinger would not have "brushed aside questions" from reporters that morning. He would have tried to set the record straight.
Only the Winnipeg Free Press repeated, without question, the desperate cover-up spin of the NDP after being caught in a bald-faced attempt to fool the media and get an unchallenged "happy news story" in front of the public.
History
Updated on Friday, September 16, 2011 at 9:34 AM CDT:
Clarifies this was a MB gov't announcement, not an NDP party announcement
Updated on Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:14 PM CDT:
Amends that this is an NDP campaign promise, not a Manitoba gov't announcement; includes information from Elections Act
So the Free Press reported that Greg Selinger and the NDP acted to break the elections law, then simply revised their story to match the NDP's sanitized version of their actions after Gerrard raised the ante by filing a formal complaint.
Consider it A Lesson in Journalism.
After having to think for a few hours to make an excuse, Selinger claimed to CJOB it was just a follow-up of a week-old campaign promise about mentorship, which no one buys because it was not presented that way to the media - or the headlines would have said so i.e. "NDP pledge moves forward by teaming with Jets".
We delved into this subject on Friday's podcast, as another example of the ethics and credibility gap of a party that watched over the collapse of the Crocus Fund Ponzi scheme, lies about Tory "plans" to sell Manitoba Hydro, lies about BiPole, and lies about the size of the deficit, but wants the public to be scared of a change in government to another party.
On Monday's podcast, we'll review the media and online reaction to the NDP campaign trick that failed, report on another campaign dirty trick, and reveal how the crack epidemic in Winnipeg has relocated under the NDP's watch, right under their nose. It will be online in about 2 PM.
