The Written Word
for July 2, 2000

The media, of which I am, of course, a part, is a strange animal and no further proof is needed than the career of Preston Manning.

At the start of his political career he was looked upon as rather a joke. To the extent that the Central Canadian media looked at him and the Reform Party at all it was to report on the nuts and fruitcakes that saw that party as the answer to all their prayers, literally. They dwelt on the problems Manning had with racist Doug Collins seeking a nomination in North Vancouver and the off the cuff pronouncements made by anyone associated with the party.

Then came the big surprise in the election of 1993 when the Reform Party won over 50 seats and came within a whisker of becoming the Official Opposition, a position they attained in 1997. The microscope was on them and, once again, every pronouncement by any member of that caucus which had the faintest odour of racism or intolerance about it was jumped on. Now, to be fair to the media, there were moments when the intolerance of a number of Reform MPs was clearly evident. And there was and remains no doubt that if bigots are going to vote for any of the options available they will, in Western Canada, vote Reform or now the Canadian Alliance. But while the media examined the Reform Party in great detail they ignored the failings in other parties. It was just that the Reform Party was, well, unCanadian. It didn’t fit into the mould. The Toronto Globe and Mail, really believing that they spoke for Canada just knew that this party was an aberration which would soon go away.

But it didn’t go away and it’s not going to go away. And even now, as the torch has been passed to a new and more inclusive party and the leadership is about to pass to a bilingual young man with roots in both the east and the west the central Canadian media is slowly beginning to take notice.

Not that they are being fair, mind you. That would be too much to expect. They have taken the loss of Tom Long very hard indeed. For it looked to the Toronto and Ottawa boys that the Reform Party now the Canadian Alliance was about to just become the Progressive Conservative Party with a new name and a new leader.

That, of course, hasn’t happened.

What is fascinating is the easy ride the media has given Joe Clark. They still quote him as if he was the credible leader of a credible party. He’s not, of course, as all other Canadians seem to understand. He’s a damned fool who’s a caricature of himself. Out of favour with what’s left of his party, Joe Clark ought to be ignored as representing nothing current on the Canadian political stage.

What happens next?

Only a fool would make a bet but I have that tummy feeling that something’s happening in this country. We cannot continue this way. We cannot survive as a nation with one party representing the eastern establishment and quite another representing the western half of the country. I sniff the winds and sense the faint odour of an upset coming.

I’m not suggesting that Stockwell Day will sweep the country but he certainly could sweep the western provinces and take a good chunk of the Liberals 100 plus seats in Ontario.

Now what?

The Liberal leadership – the old Jean Chretien and the almost as old Paul Martin will be seen by the public against a young Stockwell Day. They will see that contrast no matter what the media does. And the media which turned up its nose at an upstart political movement from the Far West may finally have to pay attention.