Tracking the PCPO's screw-ups and their attempts to cover up those screw-ups is getting a little boring, so I think I'll shift my focus to the more technical aspects of Ontario politics until something more interesting happens.
Because the quality of Queen's Park journalism is disgustingly low, worse than even your average Canadian Journalism, you could be forgiven for not understanding exactly how the Ontario Liberals cling to power beyond "The Opposition just sucks that badly", and while that is certainly true it doesn't tell the whole story.
Thus it falls to me to explain the ways that the Ontario Liberals manage to clear the very low bar that has been set for them the specific manipulative tricks they play that escape most people's notice, beyond blaming everything on Mike Harris.
Keep It Boring!
Here's the biggest problem with Justin Trudeau's recent highly partisan, data mining, self promotional barnstorming tour from an Ontario Liberal perspective: It shines a light in inconvenient places.
What, an Ontario Liberal would say, is gained by lancing the boils? Who benefits from having Kathy Katula's emotional plea for hydro relief broadcast all over the province for the people to see?
From an Ontario Liberal perspective there is no choice but to go forward and not backward. Yes it's very sad that people's hydro bills are as high as their mortgage payments in some cases, but these orders come from the Very Top.
And so they will cite other jurisdictions who have made similar adjustments and where the world didn't end, and talk about how times are tough all around, but in truth the better course of action is to just not talk about the problem at all.
It's A Conservative Media Conspiracy!
Like most political people in this country, Ontario Liberals consume far, far more American news than Canadian news. They also get their tactics drip-fed to them by the Democrats, to the point where they just blindly do whatever they're told without stopping to consider whether it makes sense.
In an unguarded moment, an Ontario Liberal may let fly with a comment about how corporate friendly, conservative-leaning Canadian news is responsible for whatever bad press the party is getting. This tactic works quite well because most people aren't quick enough to reply that these conservative papers draw the least money a fact that the same Ontario Liberal knows and likely often uses to make fun of those same papers.
We're The Government Your Facts Are Wrong
When you are the government, you have all the facts and data at your disposal. When you're not the government, you don't. Therefore (goes the faulty logic) when the government says you're wrong, you are. Every time.
No, Ontario's hydro bills are not the highest in North America. No, the debt is not as bad as (insert whatever jurisdiction the PCPO is comparing it to this week). No, Ontario's Liberal government has done absolutely nothing corrupt or wrong or in the least bit suspect, and they have FACTS that prove this.
This of course presupposes that the government is comprised of metahumans who make mistakes with less regularity than the rest of us, and, further, that the government has no reason to distort or twist the facts in any way.
If you've ever actually sat down and watched Question Period at Queen's Park, you'll know that the government defends itself not only with FACTS but also with a high-handed tone that shames the questioner for daring to question those FACTS.
No Nitpick Too Small
Perhaps you made a typo in your tweet, or got a date wrong in your question, or addressed your inquiry to the wrong Liberal MPP. It doesn't matter. An error or oversight, no matter how small, means you have "lost all credibility."
Rather than the government being held to a higher standard than those it serves, it's everyone else who gets called out for falling short. On the rare occasion that a Journalist asks an inconvenient question of the government, they get their "objectivity" called into question. It's always fair game to ask whether the critic is in the pockets of Big Whatever or Whoever, or if they are just "astroturfing" when they claim to speak on behalf of citizens or taxpayers.
I've seen this government send out flyers claiming the PCPO has no business criticizing the handling of public finances because one of their members once expensed a coffee and a donut at Tim Horton's. If a quasi-governmental organization goes off the rails, they find evidence of involvement in that organization by a PC-affiliated person and the scandal deflates like a popped balloon. Release a picture showing the PCPO tour bus idling, claiming that it shows the opposition's disregard for climate change? Sure, why not.
I really hope I'm not making the OLP look like political geniuses here. These lame tricks really do only work because the opposition allows themselves to be steamrolled by them. Tune in next time when I go over why the PCPO allows themselves to repeatedly be made fools of by their Liberal counterparts.
Written by Josh Lieblein
