Of all the esoteric rules in Ottawa to hunt down, Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis seems to have found the winner. Apparently, the MP has emailed the ethics commissioner over the only Conservative Party TV ad that isn’t offensive, because it appears to have been filmed in the prime minister’s office.
Presently the rules forbid parliamentarians from using the House of Commons “as a prop for election and party purposes.” But, in a surprising defence of the ad, Kady O’Malley notes an April 29, 2010 report from Mary Dawson, the federal ethics commissioner, which states “the Code refers only to persons, and not to entities.” So the Conservative Party appears safe from this latest Liberal thrust.
That isn’t the only controversy arising from the Conservative ads that haven’t yet aired on television. According to the Chronicle Herald, the CBC is upset that the Conservatives are using file footage from the broadcaster without permission. A little strange, considering the footage can hardly be identified as being the CBC’s, and besides the broadcaster is a crown corporation. So surely the footage belongs to everybody.
”The journalistic integrity of CBC-Radio-Canada — of the national public broadcaster — and its political neutrality require that our material not be used in partisan advertising,” CBC spokesman Marco Dube said Tuesday.
Excuse some of us in the bleachers for guffawing at the mention of the CBC needing to defend its “political neutrality.”
But what’s strange about Karygiannis’s request to have the ad with the House of Commons footage banned is that it’s the only one that really inspires a positive message and doesn’t depend on half-truths and character assassination.
Although the claims about the stimulus spending, saving jobs and GST benefits are debatable, the image of the Prime Minister working late, by himself, in the dark hallways of Parliament Hill are very effective (though they do seem to invite a Rick Mercer spoof). And by all accounts, it’s fairly accurate. The prime minster isn’t exactly known as a slacker.
Compare that one to the attack ad that asserts Ignatieff will jump into bed with the NDP and Bloc Quebecois at the first opportunity to form a coalition government. Does anyone actually believe this is still a possibility?
Worse yet, the quotes from Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff being used by the Conservatives are taken out of context, and suggest not only a lack of proper patriotism but an active will to destroy Canada. Indeed, it’s exactly the kind of yellow journalism that most conservatives are accusing the media of perpetrating on a regular basis. It’s an utter waste of political donation dollars.
I’d like to see more ads like the one Karygiannis wants banned. The kind that talk about the positive aspects of the Conservative record. The rest is just mud-slinging in the playground.
“the image of the Prime Minister working late, by himself, in the dark hallways of Parliament Hill are very effective…”
Except that it was shot during the day, as demonstrated by the sunlight shining through the slats on his blinds.
But otherwise, sure…
Then they need to turn some lights on in that dungeon.
At least it wasn’t shot in Narnia.
They would not do that if they wanted to give the impression it was shot at night. Sadly for them they could not turn out the sun, and the light coming through the blinds gave them away.
Then what about the Liberal commercials filmed in Iggy’s office ?. How hypocritical can these morons be ?.
Yes, I do believe the coalition is very much in play, question is, who would lead it, Layton or Iggy.
Is that sun light, or street lights. Or possible moon light.
Sun light. It is also streaming through the windows of the hall way he walks through (which makes sense since if all the lights are off you would not be able to see him otherwise!).
“Yellow Journalism” isn’t the correct term for political ads. These ads are designed to put the worst light on your opponent and best light on yourself, plain and simple.
If the CBC was presenting the ad as a news story, yes, yellow journalism, but these are advertisments for a political party.
No one can tell me that the NDP, Liberals or even the Greenies will not resort to the same thing when the time comes. What all these people dislike is the preempitve nature of the CPC ads; it is not an election campaign. But then, where does it say you can’t run these any time you have the money to produce and buy the ad space?
Ok Mary, maybe you do believe the coalition in an option. Personally I don’t think you’re giving the Liberals enough credit for realizing what a toxic move that would be, but it’s your opinion.
But don’t you think this ad is more effective than the kind of ads that rely on those kinds of attacks?
Yellow journalism might not be the correct term, but why support ads that misrepresent other people in such a disrespectful way? I really think people are turned off by this kind of fearmongering.
I think most of the so-called attack ads were only produced to cause some media attention and get the Liberals riled up, which has worked very well, even to the point of having the CBC throw a hissy fit. The two ads which I think are serious campaign ads are the one of the PM in his office and the one about Duceppe setting out the strategy for Quebec. I doubt you’ll see any of the others on TV.
I don’t see a problem with whether the ad was shot in the daytime or in the middle of the night. It is trying to convey an idea, and does that very well. No particular reason it had to be shot in the middle of the night,since as you say the PM is known as a hard worker. BTW, the Narnia ads of course were shot in a studio as I recall, not in one of our wonderful parks….
Ever thought of the bloc/ndp forming a coalition to be the opposition and ignoring the libs. The liberals and ndp will probably trade some seats, and we might lose and gain some, but there is no way that liberals will win over 60 seats to form a minority govt.
One advantage of a coalition is a lot of the loudmouths on the opposition benches would not be able to speak or ask questions. The govt can only answer not ask. All questions would be asked by the conservatives.
I think you are right about where the Ignatieff ads were shot. I remember that because so many conservatives made such a fuss about it…
No matter how hard you plug your ears and yell “YADA yada yada”, you won’t change the truth that the liberals are showing their desparation in making this an issue, Gayle Force.
And what does that have to do with my comment again? Oh yeah. Nothing. Nothing at all.
Have a nice day Bert!
I love the It’s a Hard Days Night coffee mug in the advert. It probably makes Gayle want to break out into a rousing rendition of She loves you yeah yeah yeah!