It was a flippant response to an unrelated question about Mr. Flanagan’s philosophical views on the legality of child pornography that led to his demise as a leading public intellectual of Canadian conservatism. Within hours of his appearance at a seminar on the Indian Act at the University of Lethbridge on Feb. 27 which was posted on YouTube that evening and picked up the next morning by Huffington Post Canada and National Newswatch, he had been jettisoned by every major organization he’s become associated with since he emerged as a prominent force in Canadian politics more than two decades ago.
But in the week following the public ostracism of Tom Flanagan, there have also been statements of support.
Asked whether this was the end of Mr. Flanagan’s career as a public figure, fellow conservative pundit, and former Conservative Party policy adviser Tim Powers said that he hoped it wasn’t.
“I have a tremendous degree of respect for the person, the man, and all the work that he’s done,” Mr. Powers told The Hill Times. “We all sometimes say things we wish we didn’t, and one man’s career shouldn’t be judged by an incident in the evening at a university lecture facility where you can say some outrageous things, and what he said was outrageous.”
Hill Times columnist and former National Citizens Coalition vice president Gerry Nicholls described Mr. Flanagan’s sudden demise as “tragic.”
“Tom Flanagan is a bright, thoughtful, well-spoken, intelligent person who I think had a lot to offer Canadian debate and discussion,” said Mr. Nicholls, who appears regularly on CTV political talk show Power Play. “I think it’s very sad that this could be the final thing we remember him for.”
In a seminar on the Indian Act on Feb. 27, Prof. Flanagan was asked about views he’d previously expressed on child pornography in a story published in the University of Manitoba’s Manitoban newspaper in 2009.
“[A] lot of people on my side of the spectrum, the conservative side of the spectrum, are on a kind of jihad against pornography and child pornography, in particular. I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures,” Mr. Flanagan said.
“It is a real issue of personal liberty to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person,” Mr. Flanagan said.
Mr. Powers called the comments “asinine.”
“I’m sure he wishes he had his mouth sewn shut that night so that didn’t come out,” said Mr. Powers, vice president of communications for government relations firm Summa Strategies.
Mr. Nicholls said that it was difficult for Mr. Flanagan to claim academic freedom because his role as an academic has been overshadowed by his persona as a public figure who speaks for conservatism.
“He forgot that he’s no longer seen as an academic. He is seen as a conservative pundit, as a former strategist for Stephen Harper, a strategist for the Wildrose Alliance,” he said. “In other words, he’s in the political arena, and that’s a much different animal than the academic arena.”
By the following morning of Feb. 28, a video of Mr. Flanagan’s comments had gone viral and affiliated organizations were scrambling to denounce him.
The Prime Minister’s Office, which has made an effort to distance itself from Mr. Flanagan since his falling out with Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the publication of his 2007 book, Harper’s Team, condemned the comments as “repugnant, ignorant, and appalling.”
“Tom Flanagan in no way represents the views of the Conservative Party or of our Conservative government, and has not done so for a long time,” PMO press secretary Andrew MacDougall stated in an email to Hill Times reporter Tim Naumetz.
Mr. Powers said that the Prime Minister’s Office had no choice but to rebuke the former mentor, particularly given the current government’s focus on crime.
“There’s no nuance on that issue when you’re a politician, and there’s no nuance on that issue when you’re this Prime Minister and have been very strong in going after all forms of child pornography and all forms of law and order issues,” he observed.
The University of Calgary political scientist was dropped as a commentator from CBC’s Power & Politics by noon. The University of Calgary also quickly moved to distance itself from Mr. Flanagan, publicly stating that he would remain on his current academic leave until his already scheduled retirement in June of this year.
Mr. Flanagan has been at the University of Calgary since 1968 and is part of the so-called ‘Calgary School’ of political and economic thinkers who have influenced a number of today’s leading conservative activists and politicians.
Alberta Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, a former student of Mr. Flanagan’s at the University of Calgary, called her former professor’s comments “idiotic.” Mr. Flanagan had served as Wildrose’s campaign manager in the province’s last election, but Ms. Smith said he would have no role in the party’s future.
Mr. Flanagan was also dropped from the Manning Centre’s conference in Ottawa, where he was scheduled to appear with Manny Jules to talk about First Nations property rights.
“Dr. Flanagan’s comments do not reflect the values of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, its board of directors, or its staff,” read a brief statement from the conservative think tank.
Mr. Nicholls described Mr. Flanagan’s current status as “basically toxic.”
“He sort of has a toxicity to him right now, and that’s going to be really difficult for him to overcome,” Mr. Nicholls said. “He’s probably going to have to disappear for awhile until the emotion around this sort of debate [subsides]. At that point he may be able to sort of climb back into the arena.”
Despite the rush for distance from Mr. Flanagan, his impact on Canadian conservative politics, and Canada itself, has been profound.
It was Mr. Flanagan’s name that came second after Stephen Harper’s on the infamous 2001 “Alberta Firewall Letter” to then Alberta premier Ralph Klein, calling on Mr. Klein to assert provincial sovereignty. Their names were followed by other key conservative players like Ted Morton and Ken Boessenkool.
Mr. Flanagan was the leading strategist throughout Mr. Harper’s Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party leadership campaigns, and served as Mr. Harper’s chief of staff during his first year as leader of the opposition in 2004.
Mr. Flanagan has been an outspoken advocate for the establishment of private property rights on First Nations reserves, which was one element of last fall’s omnibus budget bill.
While some are uncertain that Mr. Flanagan will be able to salvage his reputation, Macdonald Laurier Institute director Brian Lee Crowley predicted that he would “rise again,” after a bit of time in the “doghouse” of public opinion. He also chastised the CBC and University of Calgary for hastily distancing themselves from Mr. Flanagan.
“[I] don’t think there are many mistakes that warrant the destruction of a career as long and distinguished as Tom’s, and I think the behaviour of institutions like the CBC and U of Calgary has been cowardly and disappointing,” Mr. Crowley stated in an e-mail. “Tom has given many years of loyal service to both, and I think they owed him a modicum of loyalty in return.”
Mr. Crowley added that he wouldn’t rule out inviting Mr. Flanagan to speak at Macdonald Laurier Institute events in the future.
”At the right time, on the right issue, I would have Tom back, just as I would have Brian Mulroney or Bill Clinton or many other people who have made serious mistakes in their career but still have much to contribute,” he said.
Mr. Flanagan has long positioned himself as a right-wing provocateur, particularly since he became a media commentator following his disassociation from Mr. Harper. He has criticized First Nations claims of treaty rights and argued that Western culture is superior.
He also caused public outcry when he advocated for the U.S. to assassinate Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while appearing on CBC’s Power & Politics in November 2010. He was rebuked by the broadcaster and later apologized, but continued to appear on the program up until the incident at the University of Lethbridge.
Prior to his dismissal from the CBC, he recently appeared on the political talk show in a voluminous bison fur coat.
Mr. Flanagan’s comments were also used as fodder for those on the left of the political spectrum. The Lethbridge video was posted the same night by Idle No More supporter Arnell Tailfeathers, and was posted to progressive media outlet rabble.ca’s message board just as it was picked up by The Huffington Post on the morning of Feb. 28.
A subsequent post by rabble.ca blogger Tobold Rollo questioned why it was Mr. Flanagan’s recent comments that prompted an apology, rather than his long history of denigrating that plight of Canada’s indigenous peoples.
Mr. Nicholls said that Mr. Flanagan has gained a lot of enemies as a result of his views, and the latest comments gave people an opportunity to pile on.
“There’s lots of people out there who don’t like him, who hold a grudge against him, and in politics if you give people an opportunity to misinterpret what you say, or twist your words, people will pounce on that and go after you,” said Mr. Nicholls.
Ironically, Mr. Flanagan’s fall from grace could be a product of his own legacy.
As Calgary-based political strategist Brian Singh pointed out in a recent op-ed in The Globe and Mail, Mr. Flanagan said message control was the key lesson from the Wildrose Party’s collapse in last spring’s Alberta election. Wildrose leader Ms. Smith’s decision not to drop candidates who had made inflammatory comments about gays and minorities was seen as one reason for her party’s poor showing on election day.
“I’m sure Tom doesn’t mind having tire treads all over him, because were he in the position of people in the Prime Minister’s Office, he would be doing exactly the same thing,” Mr. Powers said. “Political people have to act with political means and motives, and they did.”
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: CHRIS PLECASH
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