Prognostication Props

Harper restricts ministers’ message, reports the Globe and Mail today:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has imposed central control over all information and comments to the public issued by government officials and even cabinet ministers, directing them to have everything cleared by the Prime Minister’s Office, according to an internal e-mail and government sources.

The orders, described in an e-mail to bureaucrats, indicate that ministers have been told to avoid talking about the direction of the government, and that the government wants them to be less accessible to the news media. And all government officials are instructed to avoid speaking about anything other than the five priorities outlined in the Conservative campaign.

…

Government officials and Conservatives confirmed the instructions, including orders that the PMO clear all public communications — including minor comments and letters to local newspapers.

Back in January, in comments to a post called Election Discussion, Ryan pondered “whether the [Conservative] party leadership’s grip on its members will continue once Parliament gets back into session.”

Alevo responded:

I think it will. They have already provided an essential muzzle. The Harper “inner circle” has developed their Five-Point Plan, and I suspect that no MP is allowed/advised to talk outside of the plan. Already, I have seen numerous interviews with Tory MPs where they reference the Five-Point Plan ad nauseum. Every question posed by a reporter, even those of a probing ideological nature can be deflected by referencing the Five-Point Plan. That Plan is going to be as important for defining the early Harper regime as The Gomery Inquiry was for defining the early Martin regime. Arguably, as you point out, this is an assualt on the ethics that underpin free speech, but it is also brilliant tactical politics given the current situation.

Here’s the link to this remarkably accurate prognostication.