Harper's MinTruth

We have known for quite some time that Harper has been spending enormous amounts of taxpayer money trying to convince us that his government is saving Canada.

More disturbing is how much they are spending on their "Ministry of Truth".

The federal government employs nearly 4,000 communications staff in the public service, an increase of 15.3 per cent since the Conservatives came to power in 2006.

Data compiled by the Parliamentary Budget Office shows there were 3,865 "information services" employees on the payroll at the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, up by 512 since Prime Minister Stephen Harper assumed office.

The sharpest increases came in the two highest paid job classifications, where numbers jumped 33 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.

Canadians employ 4,000 people to "communicate" with Canadians?  That's positively ridiculous.  Of course, when among those 4,000 communications staff are the KGB-esque "minders" that Harper sends with scientists when they attend conferences.

Meanwhile, Harper has cut funding to legitimate science that should be used to inform policy decisions - choosing instead to spend those dollars on a propaganda campaign.

[Update 25/6/13 8:25]:  

One last point, this PM is using his offices to implement his propaganda and agitprop campaigns - complete down to faux demonstrations performed by interns.

[/Update]

The Federal Con$ Create Ministry of Truthiness

So, the HarperCon$ want to control the message online as well ... and they want to use Canada's taxpayer money to do it:

The next time you post an opinion in an online forum or a Facebook group message board, don't be surprised if you get a rebuttal from a federal employee.

The government is looking for ways to monitor online chatter about political issues and correct what it perceives as misinformation.

If that doesn't have enough shades of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, it gets richer yet.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has paid the firm $75,000 "to monitor social activity and help identify ... areas where misinformation is being presented and repeated as fact," Simone MacAndrew, a department spokesperson, said in an email.

The firm alerts the government to questionable online comments and then employees in Foreign Affairs or the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, who have recently been trained in online posting, point the authors to information the government considers more accurate.

Really? Considering the track record of the HarperCon$ for lying to the Canadian public on a host of issues, and taking every step they can to cover things up and reduce both transparency and accountability to the Canadians, this whole endeavor stinks of the government creating its own propaganda ministry - one which will inevitably step beyond dealing in facts.

Heck they might as well just call it "Pravda" ... it will be about as credible.