MINISTRY OF TRUTH: Liberal ads attack truth

By Adrian Barnes

 After last week's debate, during which the combatants were fairly well-behaved (not surprising since if they pulled any fast ones they'd have been instantly called on it by the other leaders) Liberal poll numbers did not rise, so now they're getting desperate. And when politicians (or human beings) get desperate, they get mean and ugly. Hence the new attack ad from the Liberal Party, which contains the following rhetorical sins and which is worthy of an entire column all by its lonesome:

“It's past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act” cited as being from 2010 BUT Harper actually said it in 1997. This is an unfair representation of the facts designed to make the threat more immediate and ominous and less pre-911. Strike One.

The ad next states that Harper favours American-style “private, for-profit” health care. In case you're interested, here's what the man actually said: “Monopolies in the public sector are just as objectionable as monopolies in the private sector. It should not matter who delivers health care, whether it is private, for profit, not for profit or public institutions, as long as Canadians have access to it regardless of their financial means.” Not quite so scary, is it? Now decide what his position is for yourself, if so inclined. No matter what people accuse Stephen Harper of, he's never been called stupid enough to go around calling for private US-style health care in public! This Liberal example of taking a quote out of its proper context is disgraceful. Strike Two.

“Curb health costs: Flaherty ” appears on the screen next. The voiceover quickly says that Harper called for “MASSIVE cuts to increases in health spending” First off, there's nothing wrong with curbing health care costs as such. Is there? In fact, it's pretty darn necessary. Secondly, cuts to increases are very different from cuts to services. Both these statements misrepresent the actual situation. Strike three.

Finally, there's the statement that Harper plans to cut 11 billion in government spending and the question 'where would these cuts leave your family's health care?'. This is a non sequitur because there is no logical connection between anything else in the ad and a direct threat of losing public health care. Strike four!

Does Harper want to get rid of universal health care? He certainly hasn't said so, but if he does want to he isn't going to say it publicly, is he? That's why the Liberals have been forced to descend to this pitifully low level of rhetoric.

Even if Stephen Harper is no friend to universal health care (entirely possible), attempting to defeat him through these sorts of means is degrading to all of us and ads like this should leave the electorate wondering how they can trust the purveyors of such manipulative rubbish any more than the Liberal-despised Harper government.

Now today (Saturday) we have Michael Ignatieff in the news doing his best 'Obama' and shouting like a constipated gospel preacher. 'Rise up, Canada!' again and again. I actually blushed when I heard it. Lord knows Ignatieff has a point about the anti-democratic tendencies of the Harper government, but by conflating real revolutions in the Middle East with his own attack ad-fuelled ambitions to be Prime Minister, Ignatieff is losing credibility by the day.

One thing is certain: if there's a democratic revolution in the offing (and I'd say there's definitely a need for one), neither Harper nor Ignatieff will be leading it.

PENALTY BOX

Alex Atamanenko (NDP): 0

Stephen Hill (Conservative): -1

Bryan Hunt (Green): 0

Jack Layton (NDP): 0

Stephen Harper (Conservative): -3

Elizabeth May (Green): 0

Michael Ignatieff (Liberal): -6