Althouse: "It's as if Stephen Harper were the CEO of Canada the corporation and we were his employees and we were not allowed to step out of line..."

May 17, 2013

"It's as if Stephen Harper were the CEO of Canada the corporation and we were his employees and we were not allowed to step out of line..."

"... or say what we believe is right or true because that would upset the company's brand. This fanatical obsession with message control to me is very much what you have in a company but in a democracy that shouldn't be the case."

Says Franke James, who tells her story in "Banned on the Hill: A True Story about Dirty Oil and Government."

20 comments:

Anonymous said...: “I thought I lived in a free country where you were allowed—and encouraged—to speak your mind."

Not a regular Mark Steyn reader, evidently.; 5/17/13, 7:23 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: She thought she lived in a country where she was entilted to government money so she could speak her mind.

The article is very long on conclusions but almost nothing on facts. The one fact she pointed to was she did not get a government grant to show her work.

Boo fraken hoo; 5/17/13, 7:27 PM
edutcher said...: She's a Lefty and a globull warming freak and Harper is pulling Canada away from Socialism.

That's the issue here.

How dast he!; 5/17/13, 7:27 PM
Strelnikov said...: Well, let's see. Left wing activist with ax to grind? Check. Eco-nut opposed to all energy development? Check. All related in the Guardian? Check. That's it. I believe it all.; 5/17/13, 7:28 PM
kcom said...: ICBB/DR - I can't be bothered/Didn't read

So, my question is, does she have a case? Or is it just carping against a non-lefty?

(See lefties, I actually care about things on principle. I want to know facts and won't decide what I think until I find out more. Try it some time. It'll do you good.); 5/17/13, 7:29 PM
Strelnikov said...: "Boo fraken hoo"

That's "Boo FRACKING Hoo".; 5/17/13, 7:29 PM
Michael K said...: Gee, I wonder how she got her book on Amazon ? Must be some secret society project since Harper is so tyrannical.

I wonder if she has ever learned anything about Obama that she didn't like?; 5/17/13, 7:36 PM
Ambrose said...: Some day they will join us in the USA; it is only a matter of time. The age old dream of a continental republic lives.; 5/17/13, 7:37 PM
CWJ said...: Re: ICBB/DR

Careful kcom, Phx may go after you for copyright infringement.; 5/17/13, 7:50 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Strelnikov said...
"Boo fraken hoo"

That's "Boo FRACKING Hoo".

5/17/13, 7:29 PM

I stand humbly corrected. Great catch; 5/17/13, 7:53 PM
n.n said...: Oil is not "dirty". It is a product of natural processes which, like oxygen, water, etc., may be toxic to some species in concentration. It is also a nutrient consumed by some bacteria in the natural environment.

Save the bacteria!

It's interesting that so-called "environmentalists" care nothing for disruption of the environment when it is out-of-sight and out-of-mind. They also care nothing for the flora, fauna, and humans which are destroyed and displaced to make room for low-density, low-reliability solar panels and windmills.

The so-called "green" technologies are anything but green. They are disruptive during pre-manufacturing, manufacturing, deployment, and reclamation. They are also not strictly renewable. Only the driver (e.g. solar radiation, convection currents) are renewable.

As for global cooling/warming/climate disruption/change, a normal temperature is not a single number. It can only legitimately be described with a distribution, where variability of 20 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit are normal.

I wonder what James has to gain by distorting the terms and circumstances of reality.; 5/17/13, 7:59 PM
edutcher said...: Ambrose said...

Some day they will join us in the USA; it is only a matter of time. The age old dream of a continental republic lives.

There was a time Mexico owned all of Central America down to Panama.

We know how that worked out.; 5/17/13, 8:04 PM
Revenant said...: Aside from the four years I spent in college I've enjoyed largely unrestricted speech my entire adult life. Corporations don't generally place speech restrictions on their employees, aside from the obvious things like "don't be a dick to your co-workers" and "don't give away corporate secrets".; 5/17/13, 8:09 PM
chuck said...: I call BS. Canada is rather famous for the environmental nuttiness of the CBC. And it isn't like there is a lack of lefty propaganda otherwise. Someone wants a free ride.; 5/17/13, 8:10 PM
J said...: Jack London commented on Canadian nice fascism 110 years ago.Mark Steyn does so today.Most days everyone thinks of Canada as a slightly chillier version of the States.They are not.Canada lacks an unchanging acknowledgement of fundamental rights.Sometimes Canadians come up against their constraints in an unpleasant manner.; 5/17/13, 8:16 PM
Ambrose said...: edutcher: If Mexico and Central A down to the canal were all part of the USA, do you think the development might have been different. Maybe those parts of the world would be thriving today. Why not?; 5/17/13, 8:35 PM
tim maguire said...: Canadians don't have a recognized right to free speech and most liberals here like it that way. Sure, they might winge and complain about having to file a 10 page questionairre and submit a resume to get permission to comment on a proposed oil pipeline (true story), but on the plus side, they get to harrass and sometimes even arrest the non-PC.; 5/18/13, 5:38 AM
Rusty said...: "Dirty oil"
That's funny.; 5/18/13, 7:32 AM
Rusty said...: "Dirty oil"
That's funny.; 5/18/13, 7:32 AM
Marty said...: "With the muzzling of scientists, Harper’s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian"--headline from the cited MacLean's article. Notice how the Left whines whenever they think someone is mimicking their M.O.; 5/18/13, 9:55 AM