Liberal MP John McCallum asked the government, via an order table question, for a complete list of every press release to use the phrase from every department or Crown agency last fall.
The result, tabled this week, was a massive 297-page document with responses from each department. The data is rather messy – dates are formatted inconsistently, the French and English are goulashed together and all the documents had to be subject to a messy OCR process – but I was able to get a rough total using some search-and-replace tactics.
My analysis show that between September 21 and December 11 (when the question was tabled), the federal government sent out 449 press releases in English using the phrase Harper Government.
So, about eight times every weekday, a government organ issues an official communication branded with the name of our prime minister. You can double the figure if you include the French version.
These were no mere passing references: Of these 449 press releases, I counted 412 slugged with a title that began “Harper Government….” followed by a suitably impressive verb, such as “helps,” “invests,” “boosts,” “supports,” “appoints,” “highlights,” “encourages,” and “commemorates,” among dozens of others.
My favourites:
“Harper Government Helps Gluten-Free Bakery Deliver New Product Line,”
“Harper Government Highlights Role of East Coast Privateers in the War of 1812,”
“Harper Government Showcases Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair,”
“Harper Government Agreement Will Bring Versatile New Oat Variety Closer to Market,”
and “Harper Government Supports the 2012 Women’s Wrestling Championships.”
It’s worth noting that some departments have clearly told the Prime Minister’s Office to pound sand. The Department of National Defence, for one, said it could find no press releases containing the phrase.
Vive la résistance!
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com
Author: Glen McGregor
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