HARPER'S YOUTUBE EXPERIMENT UNINSPIRING

Prime Minister Responds To Pre-selected Questions Submitted By Website
Users, But That Didn't Prevent Activist Groups From Having Their Say

A YouTube experiment, intended by the Prime Minister's Office to
enhance Stephen Harper's image as modern and accessible, became a
platform for disgruntled voters to vent frustrations on Tuesday.

In the half-hour YouTube town hall, pre-recorded at Rideau Gate in
Ottawa, the prime minister responded to about a dozen questions that
website viewers themselves had submitted and had a hand in choosing.

A relaxed Harper said little that was surprising in response to
videotaped and text queries that ranged from the ethics of the seal
hunt to the torture of Afghan detainees.

Harper defended his government's positions by pointing to his belief
that Canadians agreed with the Conservative policies and noting
repeatedly that Canada is in a better position economically than other
countries.

Google had advertised the initiative last week, signalling that the PM
would be only the second national leader, after U.S. President Barack
Obama, "to engage with the public in this manner ... For the first
time Canadians will have a chance to ask the PM questions." For the
PMO, the venture reflected a long-standing strategy whereby Harper,
known for tightly controlling his communications, wherever possible
has bypassed the National Press Gallery in Ottawa in favour of
connecting with Canadians either directly or through local or ethnic
media. Many of the questions submitted by the YouTube participants --
totalling 1,800 -- were irreverent, even rude, revealing another side
of Canadians, so often described as polite.

"Hypothetically, if you wanted to remove someone like yourself from
power, how would you go about it?" teased a post from Hamilton, Ont.

From Vancouver: "Underneath the blank grey eyes, political machinations,
expensive suit
and hairspray, do you have a semblance of a soul?"

"Do you think it's time for Rahim Jaffer and Helena Guergis to find
another line of work?" asked an Ontarian, referring to the Status of
Women minister who had an emotional meltdown last month at
Charlottetown's airport and her husband, a former MP who benefited
from a plea bargain in his conviction last week on a charge of
careless driving.

Of course those questions never made it into the Harper interview,
conducted by Google rep Patrick Pichette.

Other questions were thoughtful, referring to the melting of ice in
the Canadian North and asking why Conservatives haven't taken the hint
and done more on climate change. Or asking why Canada continues
exporting cancer-causing asbestos. Another questioner asked why the
Harper government was spending so much time on crime legislation when
statistics show crime has been dropping in the last 30 years.

Several interest groups tried to hijack the experiment, filling the
YouTube site with queries challenging Canada's pot laws; questioning
the Harper government's slowness to legislate changes to the
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to ensure that, in Nortel-type
situations, laid-off employees acquire pension protection; and
slamming bilingualism.

"When will a referendum be held by all provinces except Quebec to once
and for all vote on whether to keep Quebec in Canada?" asked a
Manitoba resident.

Calling himself a "Canadian sovereigntist," Harper said he would not
want to see another Quebec referendum.

He defended the seal hunt as "one of the most humane cases of animal
husbandry in the world."

On pensions, the PM noted that most plans are regulated provincially
and that private pensions in Canada "are generally very, very strong,
certainly in comparison with those of other countries."

Defending the Conservative focus on crime, Harper said: "I don't want
to say crime is out of control in this country, but we do know that
there have been some very worrying growth areas, not just in Canada,
but around the world."

On decriminalizing marijuana, Harper was adamantly against, saying:
"We should not fool ourselves into thinking that if we somehow stopped
trying to deal with it, it would suddenly turn into a nice, wholesome
industry."

While the event may have helped the PM reach some younger voters, it
hardly came across as any sort of new-age event.

Rather the interview seemed a typically tightly managed affair in
which Harper emerged unscathed.