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Liberals Accuse U.S. Republican Pollster of Coaching Conservative Party |
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Written by LPC
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Tuesday, 09 May 2006 |
Liberal MP Mark Holland took Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative government to task yesterday over recent meetings with U.S. Republican pollster Frank Luntz at a conference organized by a radical right wing group.
“Since the Prime Minister muzzles his MPs and hides from the press, is the Civitas Society where we need to look to uncover the truth about this government’s real agenda?” Holland asked in the House of Commons Monday.
Mr. Luntz, a republican strategist who helped draft Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, spoke in Ottawa at the 10th Annual Conference of the Civitas Society, a radical right-wing group closely linked to the Reform/Alliance wing of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Mr. Harper had a private meeting and posed for pictures with Luntz. Mr. Harper’s Chief of Staff Ian Brodie, President of the Treasury Board John Baird, and key advisor and former national campaign chair Tom Flanagan were also in attendance.
Mr. Luntz has made a career of polarizing electorates in the name of short-term political benefit. Mr. Luntz outlined a plan for the Conservative Party that focuses on code wording and imagery, urging Conservatives to focus on specific differences in wording between the two parties instead of the large policy challenges confronting Canada in the 21st Century.
Canada’s favorite sport was also a key element of Mr. Luntz’s strategy. “If there is some way to link hockey to what you all do, I would try to do it,” he said in his speech.
Treasury Board President John Baird also gave a speech at the Civitas Society event entitled, “The Way Forward for Conservatives.”
Are we to assume that Mr. Baird’s way forward involves the same practices that Mr. Luntz advocates for his Republican clients?
Many Liberals across the country have expressed deep concern over the heavy-handed approach the current Prime Minister has taken to governing and how similar this approach has been to that of the Republican Party in the United States.
If the Prime Minister’s actions are being guided by strategists such as Mr. Luntz, the reason for these similarities is becoming abundantly clear. |
