Watching video clips of Justin Trudeau and his gender-balanced cabinet walking to Rideau Hall for their swearing in on that bright fall day — Nov. 4, 2015 — I felt uplifted.
They were smiling and waving and were greeted warmly by onlookers, in stark contrast to the cold, regressive regime of Stephen Harper, who was finally out the door after nine years in power.
This was real change. Trudeau was all youthful vitality and optimism, and it felt good not to choke on your own cynicism every time the prime minister opened his mouth.
As the Toronto Star’s Peter Edwards reported that day, “Trudeau said he welcomed media asking serious questions and respected the desire for open data and access to information. ‘We’re forming a government that places trust at the very centre of its actions,’ he said.”
It was a sea change for journalists. Harper had favoured tightly controlled and scripted media appearances, and limited reporters’ questions — if he was taking them at all.
During his administration, his relationship with national media was increasingly chilly, as he claimed they were biased against him.
In 2006, when Harper’s refusal to take questions after a foreign aid announcement prompted members of the press corps to abandon the event, it made headlines in the Los Angeles Times.
“…nearly two dozen reporters walked out, leaving the prime minister to make his statement in front of a single camera in a nearly empty room,” Maggie Farley reported.
Newly minted Prime Minister Trudeau was like a breath of fresh air in a dank and dusty room where the curtains hadn’t been opened in almost a decade.
With his message of tolerance, openness and inclusivity — and his penchant for posing for photos with ordinary folks — he was an easy sell to those who had been turned off by Harper’s icy demeanour.
But now, nearly four years later and on the threshold of a federal election, Trudeau is stonewalling the media.
In St. John’s this week to press the flesh at the 201st running of the Royal St. John’s Regatta and to address party faithful at a Liberal fundraiser, Trudeau refused to entertain questions from reporters.
In response, a Telegram reporter attended his speech at a $300-a-plate dinner at Memorial University’s Signal Hill campus Tuesday evening, but we provided no coverage of his remarks other than to point out he would not take questions. Reporters aren’t carrier pigeons, after all, sent out to deliver messages unexamined.
Newly minted Prime Minister Trudeau was like a breath of fresh air in a dank and dusty room where the curtains hadn’t been opened in almost a decade.
This in a province verging on financial freefall, where people worry about heating their homes as the $12.7-billion debt for the Muskrat Falls fiasco comes due.
Where unemployment is rampant and the pressures of climate change are being felt.
Where there are federal employees who were shafted by the faulty Phoenix payroll system introduced by Harper and continued under Trudeau.
The message sent by Trudeau’s unwillingness to answer questions is one of arrogance: by all means, take pictures and talk up my visit to Newfoundland, but don’t bother me with your concerns. It’s all about The Show.
Trudeau issued a tweet Aug. 7 meant to hit all the right notes with the proud and patriotic crowd: “The @StJohnsRegatta isn’t just about who crosses the finish line first — it’s about a community coming together to cheer each other on, and the warmth & heart of the people who call Newfoundland and Labrador home. Thanks for another great Regatta Day!”
Gee, Mr. Prime Minister, it was our pleasure. That’s just the way we are here. Welcome to the Rock!
But seriously, sir — spare us the platitudes and, instead, why not give us some of that “new era of openness and transparency” you promised when you got elected.
We could use some of that right now.
I’d like to think our votes are not so easily given that we can be bought off with a few smiles and waves at public appearances.
What is this, “ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies”?
My suggestion to Trudeau is that he abandon this strategy before it becomes so entrenched that he, too, finds himself delivering well-honed messages to empty rooms.
Pam Frampton is The Telegram’s managing editor. Email [email protected]. Twitter: pam_frampton
MORE FROM PAM FRAMPTON
