Media Releases
September 10, 2008
Following Mr. Harper’s apology that stated “belittling images are not fair game and not acceptable and obviously I’m not pleased that that this happened,” other “belittling” images and sections were pulled from the Conservative site in a panicked and clumsy attempt at damage control. These include:
Despite Mr. Harper stating prior to the launch of the election campaign that he didn’t “see any reason to go personal and nasty against the other leaders,” (CBC Newsworld, September 7, 2008), senior members of Mr. Harper’s campaign still went out and authorized the creation of over-the-top attacks that have embarrassed Mr. Harper and have forced him to further backtrack on a strategy Conservatives have been reportedly bragging about for months.
With all of the attack websites and the false and misleading attacks Conservatives have been offering Canadians for over a year and a half, it is becoming clear that Mr. Harper may have been referring to his own campaign tactics when he said: “I anticipate a very nasty kind of personal attack campaign.” (CTV, September 7, 2008)
While Liberals believe there is a place for humour in politics and Mr. Harper is free to set the tone of his campaign, if he was sincere about his willingness to change his approach and actually engage in a substantive debate on the issues rather than resorting to personal smears, we think the next steps he should take is to have the rest of these “belittling” images and mischaracterizations removed.
Conservatives must respect Harper's pledge and pull all "belittling" images
OTTAWA – A day after displaying an image of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion with a puffin flying past and defecating on him, Conservatives have removed a few more “belittling,” “tasteless” and “inappropriate” images from their attack website today but other insulting images remain, raising further questions about the sincerity of Mr. Harper’s claim that neither he nor senior party officials were aware of the content on the Conservatives’ attack website.Following Mr. Harper’s apology that stated “belittling images are not fair game and not acceptable and obviously I’m not pleased that that this happened,” other “belittling” images and sections were pulled from the Conservative site in a panicked and clumsy attempt at damage control. These include:
- An image that depicts Mr. Dion as a hippie-peacenik;
- An image of Mr. Dion as a “soft on crime” soccer referee; and
- “DIONBOOK” – a parody of FACEBOOK that contained personal attacks on Liberals and even targeted specific journalists, accusing them of a partisan agenda.
- An image that depicts Mr. Dion as an “inanimate” action figure doll;
- A chalk drawing caricature of Michael Ignatieff holding an assault rifle;
- “STREET DEBATER” – a mock debate site that pits a bobble head depiction of Mr. Dion against bobble head characters of Michael Ignatieff and Gerard Kennedy; and, on the main Conservative site;
- A release entitled “Fight Youth Crime with Hip Hop” depicts Mr. Dion and Michael Ignatieff as hip hop artists;
Despite Mr. Harper stating prior to the launch of the election campaign that he didn’t “see any reason to go personal and nasty against the other leaders,” (CBC Newsworld, September 7, 2008), senior members of Mr. Harper’s campaign still went out and authorized the creation of over-the-top attacks that have embarrassed Mr. Harper and have forced him to further backtrack on a strategy Conservatives have been reportedly bragging about for months.
With all of the attack websites and the false and misleading attacks Conservatives have been offering Canadians for over a year and a half, it is becoming clear that Mr. Harper may have been referring to his own campaign tactics when he said: “I anticipate a very nasty kind of personal attack campaign.” (CTV, September 7, 2008)
While Liberals believe there is a place for humour in politics and Mr. Harper is free to set the tone of his campaign, if he was sincere about his willingness to change his approach and actually engage in a substantive debate on the issues rather than resorting to personal smears, we think the next steps he should take is to have the rest of these “belittling” images and mischaracterizations removed.
