Are Tory Anti-Dion Ads Illegal?

[M.Dancer]

This thought just came to me - for those who don't believe there is Liberal bias in the media. The best demonstration can be found on any of the Political Blogs including this one. I have yet to see a single topic raised where the poster accuses the general media of being systemically anti-Liberal.

So if a group of conservatives refuse to say the media is anti Liberal, it means the media has a Liberal bias.....?

Is that sort of like the test to see if a person is a witch?

eh?

How do you prove a positive by using a negative? It's silly......

writers have bias......if it is a news story they should keep it out, if it is a column, the editor should balance it. Whining about liberal or conservative bias is incredibly naive.....

I have over the years worked for Southam and Thomson, and know many who work for Canwest, Torstar, Sun Media......and writers and management come in all colours.....

[M.Dancer]

The "Left wing Liberal meadia bias" is a crock. Is CTV left wing bias? Is CanWest Liberally bias?

Get over it already.

CBC is pro-liberal and that's where my tax dollars were going. It would be the equivalent for you if you lived in the States and your tax dollars were going to a Sean Hannity/Ann Coulter lovefest.

I bet you'd LOVE that...

Must be the reason CBC skewered Paul Martin and Canada Steamships before the election...cause they're Pro liberal.......

Has Fox ever done an in depth analysis of Bush Jrs business floppings?

[tml12]

CBC has never liked Martin after the 1995 budget.

Doesn't mean they are pro-Harper...far from it.

[M.Dancer]

CBC has never liked Martin after the 1995 budget.

Doesn't mean they are pro-Harper...far from it.

I would hope that aren't pro-harper...or pro-dion...or pro-taliban jack......the only pro they should be is

pro-fessional

[Catchme]

Is Harper testing the waters to see whether "someone" will force Telecaster to pull the ads?

This could be a shrewd double strategy. If the ads are pulled, the Harper team could try to take it to the Supreme Court again.

If there is a law suit, the evidence -- in this case, the ads -- become public information and the Patterson team might have a hard time preventing their public display.

Law suit? This has absolutely nothing to do with 3rd party advertising, and thereby has nothing to do with shrewd double strategy, or any strategy at all.

They stole the images and words from the consortium that filmed the Liberal leadership convention and aired it. They infringed apparently on copyright laws. If the ads were pulled, it would because to air them would mean they would be culpable of breaking copyright laws as well.

The only lawsuit coming out of this would be against the CPC for stealing copyrighted material.

Again it has NOTHING to do with 3rd party advertising challenges or shrewd anything.

[Charles Anthony]

Again it has NOTHING to do with 3rd party advertising challenges or shrewd anything.

You are right. I was mistaken for suggesting that it could present the exact same challenge to the 3rd party advertizing law.

However, I am NOT mistaken in suggesting that if there is a lawsuit, the evidence becomes public information. That could be the strategy.

[fellowtraveller]

Is there anything in the ads that is not factual?

[Who's Doing What?]

The "Left wing Liberal meadia bias" is a crock. Is CTV left wing bias? Is CanWest Liberally bias?

Get over it already.

CBC is pro-liberal and that's where my tax dollars were going. It would be the equivalent for you if you lived in the States and your tax dollars were going to a Sean Hannity/Ann Coulter lovefest.

I bet you'd LOVE that...

So is the CBC the ONLY media available?

Because the only way the MSM could be labeled Liberal is if the CBC is the only MS Media.

But even for a so-called Liberal friendly media outlet they sure didn't pull any punches when attacking Martin as was mentioned above.

CTV ranks way above CBC in terms of viewership. Plus there is CanWest. So I would argue that the majority of MSM is actually Conservative or Right wing Bias, if they have any true bias at all.

Sorry but the Liberal MSM is gone. Doesn't exists anymore.

[Who's Doing What?]

Is there anything in the ads that is not factual?

Nope. Actually yes there is one thing in the ads that is false. A cookie to who can guess it first.

[tml12]

CBC has never liked Martin after the 1995 budget.

Doesn't mean they are pro-Harper...far from it.

I would hope that aren't pro-harper...or pro-dion...or pro-taliban jack......the only pro they should be is

pro-fessional

Well, in theory, yes.

[hiti]

Telecaster does not sensor copyright. Unless they receive a complaint as CBC did during the last election.

These ads are infringing on copyright material from the networks. CPAC is looking to see who/which network they got the material from because the CPC did not ask permission to use this material.

So.... was it Global, CTV, CBC or did an amateur take the pictures off a tv by DVD? If so they are still copyright.

[Catchme]

They may not be illegal, but apparently they might just sink Hrper's ship in PQ.

And apparently by the negative press they may well regret doing them. The CPC are all about setting lows, and it seems these set the bar even lower.

Tories' shameful ads set a new low for uncivil discourse

WILLIAM JOHNSON

Make no mistake, the French television assault ads targeting Stéphane Dion launched this week by the Conservative Party are astute and deadly. They are also dishonest, and set a new Canadian standard for uncivil discourse.

...Mr. Justice John Gomery made not the slightest criticism of Stéphane Dion. Is it acceptable to treat an “honourable member” and the leader of a vital national institution like the Liberal Party with such dishonesty, such demagogy?

William Johnson, a former president of Alliance Quebec, is the author of Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada.

Harper and the CPC sink to a whole new low!

[hiti]

Kinda looks good on them. The Steve mask is slipping.

[Borg]

I think the ads are funny as hell.

Think it will result in a lawsuit?

That's not fair! It's just not fair!!

Dion is weak and will be the downfall of the country. A one trick pony.

Borg

[geoffrey]

Harper and the CPC sink to a whole new low!

I'm sure that's a very fair and unbiased story.

The unfortunate thing for the Liberals is that CPC support is climbing dramatically in Ontario and Quebec. So whether or not they like that ads is irrelevant if they are getting the votes.

It's just one small piece of the pie... the media refuses to highlight Dion's complete incompetence (they had no problem bashing Harper for the same reason back when his leadership was challenged), so the CPC has to do it themselves.

[Drea]

I think the ads are funny as hell.

Think it will result in a lawsuit?

That's not fair! It's just not fair!!

Dion is weak and will be the downfall of the country. A one trick pony.

Borg

Funny as in Ha Ha Funny, of Whoo hoo Funny? LOL

I don't think he'll be the downfall of the country. I don't think he'll ever get to lead it.

As a liberal-voter (centrist minded -- Liberals are supposed to be a tad right of centre) I am not happy with Dion as leader of the party.

I actually agree with the ads.

As a BCer I cannot relate to him and really no nothing about him. I know more about Obama for goodness sake!

btw. what happened to the emoticons?

[Canuck E Stan]

btw. what happened to the emoticons?

Wondered that myself, maybe MLW feels emotions have no place in politics

[scribblet]

These ads actually reinforce any doubts people might have had about Dion. They are good ads, they do showhis hypocritical side.

from the N.Post today:

e.g. Afghanistan -back in 2005,Bill Graham, was preparing to send our troops into battle near Kandahar. He warned the House of Commons, "It is clear that it is not a peacekeeping mission" and declared "we have to bring stability to the area if ultimately there will be peace ... so the society can develop." But under Mr. Dion, the Liberal party seems poised to become the party of cut-and-run.

Environment, last summer, Mr. Dion told a National Post columnist that Canada should remain a signatory to Kyoto, but could not meet Kyoto emission reduction targets by 2012. Now the Liberals are supporting a Liberal MP's private member's bill on emission reductions that, if it becomes law, would compel the Harper government to do what Mr. Dion couldn't do as environment minister because -- as he knew then and knows now --Canada would take an enormous economic hit.

National security: another flip flop Just a few weeks ago the Liberal party supported the extra anti-terror policing powers they approved in the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act, powers that permit investigative hearings of material witnesses in terror cases and preventative arrest without bail for 72 hours. Now, in a move that suggests they've forgotten all about 9/11, the Liberals declared these measures "draconian," and will no longer support them.

Nope, these ads are good and right on message.

[Canuck E Stan]

They may not be illegal, but apparently they might just sink Hrper's ship in PQ.

And apparently by the negative press they may well regret doing them. The CPC are all about setting lows, and it seems these set the bar even lower.

Tories' shameful ads set a new low for uncivil discourse

WILLIAM JOHNSON

Make no mistake, the French television assault ads targeting Stéphane Dion launched this week by the Conservative Party are astute and deadly. They are also dishonest, and set a new Canadian standard for uncivil discourse.

...Mr. Justice John Gomery made not the slightest criticism of Stéphane Dion. Is it acceptable to treat an “honourable member” and the leader of a vital national institution like the Liberal Party with such dishonesty, such demagogy?

William Johnson, a former president of Alliance Quebec, is the author of Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada.

Harper and the CPC sink to a whole new low!

Nice cherry picking of lines and quotes. Like that of a true Liberal, deception is your game.

Here's the real story in the article.

The attack is directed at the Liberal leader, but its intended audience is primarily the constituency of the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc captured 51 of Quebec's 75 seats in last year's election, and those are the seats the Conservatives are coveting to give them a majority in the next election. They see them as vulnerable.

Since the Conservatives took power last year, the Bloc has been in an awkward position. Its founding attitudes, its gallery of villains, its folklore, its anthology of treacheries and deceit, all feature the Liberals. It has not yet learned how to retool its artillery against the Conservatives. At times, it has been outflanked by Stephen Harper, as with its resolution on recognizing Quebec as a nation and, Tuesday, its motion to give Quebec $328-million to achieve its Kyoto aims, when Mr. Harper had travelled to Sherbrooke on Monday to deliver the promise of $350-million.

And so, the Conservative ads take over and repeat even more stridently the constant themes of the Bloc Québécois: The Liberals sold out the interests of Quebeckers in order to gain and retain power; the Liberals centralized and intruded on Quebec's jurisdiction; the Liberals cheated Quebec taxpayers by running up huge surpluses in Ottawa when the needs were in Quebec (“the fiscal imbalance”), the Liberals stole the 1995 referendum by underhanded investments, notably the sponsorship scandal. The ads throw out familiar words like “A Return To Arrogance, To Quarrels And To Scandals.” They feature the return of Jean Chrétien.

These themes have been dinned so constantly by the Bloc that each can be evoked by a single slogan. That is precisely what the three ads do: They evoke all the Bloc's grievances against the Liberals. Their strategic implication is clear. The ads say: You hate the Liberals? We hate them even more. You denounce them? We denounce them harder. But all you can do is denounce; we can put them in their place.

[Spike22]

Great ads. The dude is aweful in parliament. He is better IMHO in smaller, non spotlight setting. Comes across as defensive in nature but a hell of a drinker and ladies man. Barberrella's, Ottawa Friday nights the dude is a lap dancing nut.

[marcinmoka]

I personally found the adds rather tasteless. I expected a bit more decorum. I respect the Conservatives on their fiscal policy, but this has made me more skeptical. It's showboating, and sadly, I think this is going to start a trend.

I fear the day when in two decades, political ads, rather than showcasing their parties platform have 70's sci - fi / thriller music playing in the background while showing unflattering pics of the opposition and accusing them of killing kittens or snorting cristyl meth.

SAVE POLITICAL DECORUM (or at least whats left of it)

[newbie]

Like I said on another thread marcinmoka, Harper's new government is setting the tone. I feel it will only get worse.

[marcinmoka]

Like I said on another thread marcinmoka, Harper's new government is setting the tone. I feel it will only get worse.

Decorum...perhaps,but for overall politics, I disagree. This was a tactical experiment, one which may very well backfire. But they have elections to think about, and they do not want to blow the relatively good opinion our nation holds of them for the time being. They have bright strategists, and WILL become more moderate, even if not by intention, but just as a means to ensure future power.

Personally, I like the concept of a Liberal-Conservative switch every few years. It's a good way to rejuvinate the parties and preventing them from becoming too smug, since elections let them gauge how Canadians honestly feel.

[madmax]

I personally found the adds rather tasteless. I expected a bit more decorum. I respect the Conservatives on their fiscal policy

I haven't seen anything fiscally Conservative from this government. I have seen them as having moved from fiscally Conservative to fiscally Populist.

The adds have worked regardless of their taste.

[geoffrey]

I haven't seen anything fiscally Conservative from this government.

Good call. I completely agree.