Who can really blame politicians for playing dodge ball with the media? After all, it works.
The latest example of this political manoeuvre-come-business-as-usual practice happened in Burnaby on Monday.
Somehow the media gets wind that there is a "photo-op" of Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Burnaby Village Museum. The media scrambles to get shots of Harper and MP James Moore sauntering about in a closed village accompanied by several anonymous children. Harper is kept at a distance as photographers snap shots and reporters grit their teeth. No chance for an interview, or even a Hail Mary yelled question.
And, boy, do we have plenty of questions: rumour has it there's a big oil pipeline planned for our fair city; oh, and, of course, there's all those social program cuts and new environmental rules that we'd like to at least try and explore with the PM.
But we know, as does Harper, that the small amount of information supplied is directly related to the amount of interest the public may have in how this country is being run.
And that, dear readers, is what is most frightening. Photo-ops and staged events have replaced even the rare spontaneous interviews of the past. And, to be fair, the Conservatives are not the only ones who are playing this game. While the ruling power has more to gain by keeping mum, even the Liberals and NDP leaders are engaging less and controlling more. And, again, no wonder. If one does capture a rare unscripted comment, it can mean weeks for politicians forced to avoid further comment, throwing a wrench into all their staff's carefully laid-out communication plans.
Last week, we tried to get a direct comment from NDP leader Thomas Mulcair on the pipeline - we were shuttled around between assistants until we lost track.
Alas, unlike cats who only keep coming back when you feed them, we will just keep coming back whether we get a comment or don't. It's in our nature.
