Angry in the Great White North

Here is a transcript of CBC Paul Hunter's report for January 9:

Paul Hunter: No ice, no snow, no frigid temperatures here on the still unfrozen Ottawa river. The fishin' is fine. January 9th, 2007. Now cut to exactly one year ago. January 9th, '06... see any difference? Weather patterns can change yearly, but environmental groups believe there's a globally warming trend here. So on parliament hill today, emboldened with growing public concern about it, some of Canada's biggest environmental groups gave the federal government their plan for the only way out. Some key points... Canada must recommit to Kyoto, it must impose tougher standards on the auto sector and other big industries, and must aggressively promote and support renewable energies. We are very rapidly entering a phase where we will not be able to avoid 2, 3, 4° more of warming. This is a very serious situation.

But is the government listening? Even as the environmentalists were saying that inside, just outside, the prime minister's motorcade sat idling. At 10:30 this morning, 11:30, 12:30, and beyond, just metres from his office door. For Canada's self-titled new government, what many might call an old symbolic no-no. Two summers ago, liberal cabinet ministers were chastised for idling their limos during a heat wave. Liberals ordered an end to it. Today R.C.M.P. Said with these, they try to keep the idling down as the Harper government seems trying to appear greener.

So I tracked down someone who I knew is usually close to the Prime Minister, and who would have seen what the CBC reporters had seen.

First off, my contact, a senior government official, was adamant that the motorcade vehicles were not running their engines throughout the two or more hours that passed. In fact, he said, the CBC camera crews were quite careful to tape only when the cars were being turned over.

Most of the time, he said, the waiting cars were off.

So why were the cars waiting for so long outside of the House of Commons in the first place? Because the RCMP Protective Detail has no choice -- the Mounties are not allowed to set foot inside the buildings:

The right of the House to control its precinct extends to considerations of security and policing. The House of Commons maintains its own protective service, the House of Commons Security Service, under the direction of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Beyond the precinct, the RCMP is responsible for security on the grounds of Parliament Hill, [294] as well as for the security of the Prime Minister and any visiting dignitary up to the entrance of the Parliament Buildings. Inside the buildings, it then becomes the responsibility of the House of Commons Security Service.

So the protective detail is forced to cool their heels on the curb. They aren't even allowed inside the front door to keep warm. But they can't drive off to the Tim Horton's at Sparks and Metcalfe either. They have to be close by and ready to move if something should happen and the Prime Minister needs to be evacuated from the Hill.

So the Mounties are stuck out in the cold, exposed to the elements. To keep warm, they run the cars occasionally to run the heaters, both to keep themselves warm and the specialized equipment in the limos.

And how cold was it? I was in Ottawa on Tuesday, and it was cold. The recorded temperature for January 9 was -1C at 10:30 in the morning, with a wind chill of -7C.

I don't know about Paul Hunter, but if I'm forced to stand outside for two or three hours or more in -7C weather, I'm running that engine now and again to warm up.

But Paul Hunter doesn't mention any of this. Not the rules the force the Protective Detail out in the cold. Not the weather conditions at the time. Not that these men and women put up with the cold and the wind because they volunteered to protect the prime minister from any danger.

Instead, Paul Hunter tries to score a cheap shot about the environment.

There's what your tax dollars have paid for. A national broadcaster staffed with reporters who witness the brave men and women of the RCMP Protective Security Program forced to shiver in the cold, and from that decide that the real story is how their attempts to stay warm are melting the ice caps.

Well, now you've read the other side of the story. Call it my contribution to balance in a media environment dominated by the CBC.

Hopefully that state of affairs will change one day.

Stephen Taylor has more, including video.