There’s a newly coined phrase in the Canadian political lexicon: “Harpinbunker” referring to the PMO and the Langevin Block. The phrase - I heard it first on CTV’s Question Period arises from the embargo the PMO has put on the new Cabinet ministers speaking to the media; e.g. health minister Tony Clement – an experienced minister in a far larger and more responsible portfolio than the ones he holds now – was ordered by the PMO not to talk to reporters or issue a statement in response to a new Québec health policy proposal intended to answer the Supreme Court’s order to Québec to solve the waiting list problem. Telling Tony not to talk is one thing.. Getting his co-operation shows the PMO is serious about controlling ministers.
The bunker mentality has been confirmed by the dearth of information coming from the PM himself. Only the most perfunctory statements on major national and international events have emerged from the PMO. And a few minor photo-ops (the family moving into 24 Sussex) intended to keep the media at bay while any substantive is denied.
The “bunker” phrase reminds me of the bunker, then premier of Québec, Robert Bourasa built across the street from the National Assembly and where he hid out on his way to becoming the most despised premier in the last fifty years. Advice to the PM – which I hope he doesn’t take – “ignore and abuse the media at your peril”.
