Murphygate

This article ran in the paper weeks ago...but better late than never, says the slacker who hasn't been keeping up with her blog...

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What a mess. A seemingly simple question turns into a national election scandal, how very American of us Canadians.

Here is a short play-by-play. Steve Murphy began a taped interview with Liberal leader Stephane Dion with a bit of preamble and then asked Dion a question. Dion began to answer, but then asked if he could start over because he didn't understand the question. Take two, and apparently Dion still did not understand the re-explained question, so an aide proceeded to explain it to him. Appearing a bit flustered, it took another two takes to get it right.

I was watching the CTV news on the night the interview aired. Murphy's opening statement about how the Dion campaign had asked the station not to air the false starts, was ever so delicious; anyone bored with the prospect of another political interview was likely piqued with interest after an opening line like that.

The interview was embarrassing to watch, and my husband and I found ourselves cringing throughout. One muck-up would have been bad enough, two even worse, but three false starts? Not good.

After the interview was over, almost as if he knew what a brew-ha-ha he had just stirred up, Steve again stated the justification and intent of the network for airing the entire exchange without edit.

It wasn't a confusing question. Steve was referencing comments Dion himself had made to suggest the current Prime Minister has done nothing to ease the minds of Canadians during these recent economic problems. The question went, and I quote, "If you were Prime Minister now, what would you have done that Mr. Harper has not done?" . He wasn't asking the answer to the quadratic equation, he was giving Dion an opportunity to cite where Harper had failed as a leader.

Had I asked that same question to someone walking through the mall, I'm quite sure I would have heard an acceptable response without having to clarify anything.

Now that the Conservatives are back in power and the Liberals faltered in many areas, they seem to be using the airing of this botched interview as a scapegoat for their failure.

Two weeks later, I've heard every excuse in the book to explain the false starts: that the question was poorly worded; that the use of more than one tense was impossible to understand; that Mr. Dion had trouble because his first language is French; even that he has a hearing impairment.

What ever happened to accountability?

English may not be Mr. Dion's first language, but an excellent working knowledge of the language spoken primarily by more than three-quarters of the residents of the country he is trying to represent, should be a prerequisite, shouldn't it? That is not a reflection of any kind of prejudice on my part toward people of French decent; I am French myself. It is, however, a relevant point regarding his effectiveness as a national and world leader. English is "the global language", used most often by governments worldwide in communications with each other, and especially by the majority of the countries with which Canada has it's closest relationships.

If it was only a language barrier issue, that might be less serious than if Mr. Dion just plain didn't understand the question, which certainly seemed (at least to me) to be the case. Of the many questions and problems a national leader must respond to, the degree of difficulty of Murphy's question doesn't even register in comparison. If Mr. Dion had that much trouble answering what seemed to me to be a question elementary in nature, I'd be scared to see his response to a difficult query.

Since losing so many seats in the election, this topic was bound to be brought up as a possible contributor, and it may very well have been. But isn't that Dion's fault? The editing process would clearly be a network decision, but some have even gone as far as to call for Steve Murphy's resignation as news anchor for airing the embarrassing footage. Why should he have to take the fall?

It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for CTV. Some suggest the network is Conservative leaning, which is why they chose to air the interview in its entirety. Yet, had they not aired it and word of the mishap got out, they would have been accused of Liberal bias for covering Dion's tracks. (I myself tend to think CTV sucks up to every party, politician, and guest that appears on the network, equally and without shame. Steve Murphy especially.)

Regardless, I think I had a right to see that entire interview, and I'm glad I did. Did it change my vote? No, not really. But that was my decision, and that's the whole point.