It all started way back in 2001, the first time a news report attributed to Stephen Harper the quote "It's past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act." Since then, it has appeared in print several times, the last in an August 2010 Globe and Mail article. This quote was said to have been used by Harper in a 1997 speech, and the Liberals used it in a campaign ad to remind voters of Harper's disdain for the Canada Health Act.
There was only one problem - it wasn't Harper that said it. Turns out this quote was actually made by Harper's boss at the time in the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), Mr. David Somerville. So it is understandable that the Conservatives objected to the attribution in the ad, but by raising such a huge fuss they opened up another can of worms. You see, the Liberals wanted the ad to raise public concern with what a majority Conservative government might mean for their health care - especially with the imminent renegotiation of the federal-provincial health-care accord which expires in 2014. Frankly, there is reason for that concern. After all, the quote might have been made by Somerville, but let us not forget that this was the prevailing mindset of the NCC that Harper was a senior member of at the time.
Now, the effectiveness of a campaign ad is always debatable. Limitations on campaign expenditures preclude ads from heavy rotation, and they only play on Canadian channels whcih many viewers are not often watching. Viewers also, with good reason, tend to treat them with a healthy dose of skepticism. the political payoff comes about if, and only if, it triggers a discussion in the regular media.
Clearly equating a Harper majority with a fear of health care issues has been part of the Liberal campaign. It was raised in both the English and French leadership debates by Ignatieff, however the context of why to fear Harper's stewardship of health care was not well articulated- at least until now. By raising a complaint with this ad, the Conservatives actually brought about a wider public interest in the statement than had they simply ignored it. Newspaper's dedicated column after column to investigative reports verifying the quote origins and the issue, and CBC added it to their Fact Check list.
What they found and reported, frankly, was undoubtedly an eye opener to many people. From the official position of the NCC when Harper was its vice president to the famous "Firewall Letter" that Harper sent to the National Post in 2001 where he suggested that the Federal Government should cede all power over health care taxation and service provision to the provinces, there is certainly a long history of public statements that suggest that Harper simply does not believe in a national universal health care program. A long history that was explored, dissected, and placed on front pages of newspapers across the country.
So it was that, rather than having to act contrite about the misquote, the Liberal Party was able to leverage the situation to their benefit. They had sourced the quote from several reputable publications. This quote had never been challenged by Harper before, despite its wide publication, so there was no deliberate attempt to misinform the public on the part of the Liberals. When responding to the feigned outrage of the Conservatives, Ignatieff was able to ensure that the issue of Harper's views on the Canada Health Act got much more airplay, apologize for the error, and rebuke the Conservatives for their own attack ad transgressions as compared to this honest mistake.
To add insult to injury, they have even had a little fun with resolving the issue. Canadians are being invited to vote on a list of other Harper quotes on health care to replace the misattributed quote in the add. This allows them to greatly expand the public awareness of the depth and breadth of Harper's extensive history on this issue. An issue that, let us not forget, consistently tops the list along with the economy as the primary concerns for Canadians. For people taking the time to go back to the now corrected 2010 Globe and Mail article from which the quote was taken, they are faced with the following opening:
'Does Canada still have a federal health minister?
And, more important, does it have a government with the slightest interest in maintaining the national health-insurance program called medicare?
For all practical purposes, the answer to both of those questions is a resounding “No.” '
Hardly the sort of story that the Conservatives want to get even more airplay.
Had the Liberals gone with any of the correctly attributed quotes from their list such as "Each province should raise its own revenue for health care — i.e., replace Canada Health and Social Transfer cash with tax points.” the ad would have come and gone while many Canadians were either not watching or up from the couch fetching a snack. Instead, thanks to a mistake made by the Globe and Mail, a discussion on Harper's history on this issue became the biggest story for a day in the campaign. We should all be so lucky to have our mistakes work out so well.
And we should all be concerned as to exactly what a Harper majority government would do to the Canada Health Act if given the opportunity.
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