Smart tactic from Conservatives highlighting Mulcair’s Team

It was fun to watch the media go on about how ‘solid’ the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair is and how hard it will be for the Conservatives to define him now that the NDP have run out a bunch of ads but they missed what the real tactic was going to be.

Instead of going directly at Mulcair, the focus is on the types of people he has in his caucus and what would be the consequences of having them running the country.

The Conservative’s Director of Communications Fred DeLorey Tweeted out a link this morning to the new website launch highlighting a few of the NDP nutbars who Mulcair put in his shadow cabinet:

Alexandre Boulerice

Mr. Mulcair’s Labour Critic is Alexandre Boulerice. 

Mr. Boulerice is a former union communications officer, who has long been active in Quebec provincial politics. He campaigned for a Québec Solidaire candidate in 2007 (Canada Newswire, February 16, 2007) and he was a candidate for its predecessor party, l’Union des Forces Progressistes, in 2003. Mr. Boulerice donated over $3,700 to Québec Solidaire and its predecessor party since 2003. According to the Directeur général des élections du Québec, his most recent donation was given in 2012 indicating that Mr. Boulerice remains supportive of Quebec Solidaire and its policies even as he sits as a federal MP.  Quebec Solidaire is a far-left party that clearly supports separation (see here)

The Conservatives playing chess while the media and opposition are still learning checkers.

Update: Conservative’s “attack on Mulcair” worked so badly that NDP sent out their PR hack to tell us that (see here)

Postmedia suspends reporter for Tweeting pics making fun of naked Quebec student protesters

One of Postmedia’s newspapers not only ran an apology for their reporter Anne Sutherland poking harmless fun at the Quebec ‘naked’ student protesters, they actually suspended her for three days over it.

The Gazette apologizes for inappropriate comments posted on Twitter Thursday night by one of its reporters. The Gazette’s social media policy clearly states that all journalists should conduct themselves in a manner that does not compromise themselves, their colleagues or the newspaper.

The Gazette takes all breaches of ethics very seriously. (see here)

When I saw these Tweets yesterday, I immediately thought of some of the vicious things that I have read from other reporters on Twitter and more than a few directed at me from Postmedia journos.

Now why would this newspaper in today’s world of rough and tumble Twitter get so bent out of shape over this? Looks to me like it all depends who a reporter makes fun of as opposed to what was actually said.