Word: harpers
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...Conservatives, for their part, argue that they are more transparent than their recent predecessors, noting that Harper has been holding more press conferences than either Jean Chr?tien or Paul Martin did. Harper "gives deep media interviews with much deeper content than Canadians have seen or heard from previous Prime Ministers over the last 12 years," Buckler says. And government ministers aren't complaining about being muzzled. "We've all been told to be prudent, because when you're in government your words carry different weight than in opposition," says Agricultural Minister Chuck Strahl, a 12-year...
...Harper is trying to control his government's message, he certainly isn't alone. U.S. President George W. Bush has tried to impose strict discipline within his Administration, and leaks have been rare. Canadian Prime Ministers have tried similar approaches for decades--at least at the beginning of their mandates. But Harper's style has lacked subtlety. When asked at a Feb. 21 press conference whether he would continue to make himself accessible to the media, he responded dismissively, "I will be available when I have something to announce." Other members of the government have similarly been less than media...
...journalism professor Michael Nolan, a former parliamentary reporter. He says a rigorous approach to governing has to be tempered with a sense of responsiveness to the public. "A good politician is manipulative, but he doesn't appear to be manipulative," Nolan says. "There's almost a naivet? to Mr. Harper's group because they seem to be doing this so openly...
When President George W. Bush held his first official t?te-?-t?te with then Prime Minister Paul Martin, in the Mexican city of Monterrey in January 2004, he called Martin a "straightforward fellow." Two years later, Bush used the same phrase to describe Stephen Harper at their get-acquainted chat in Canc?n, Mexico. Awkward coincidence? Maybe, but the U.S. President evidently regards straightforwardness as the highest praise he can bestow on his counterparts--at least until he decides it no longer fits the bill...
...what happened to the Martin government. Gratuitous insults from the Liberal backbench, the unexpected policy change on missile defense, and Martin's "Blame America" tirades during the election left the Bush White House convinced that Canada's jovial, well-meaning leader was as untrustworthy as his predecessor, Jean Chr?tien. Harper, on the other hand, has based his entire approach to Washington on the proposition that that won't happen on his watch. "What's important in dealing with Americans is the absence of surprise," says Derek Burney, former chief of staff to ex-PM Brian Mulroney. "The last government never...