Angry in the Great White North

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is accusing Prime Minister Stephen Harper of playing partisan politics with the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge taking place in France on April 9, by waiting until the last minute before inviting the opposition to participate:

Worse than waiting until the last minute to invite the opposition, Stephen Harper had to be shamed into issuing the invitation:

The truth is, well, different.

First, on April 3 the Conservative Party issued the official announcement:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper to attend Vimy ceremonies in France
April 03, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he and his family will join thousands of Canadians in France on April 9, 2007, to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the dedication of the newly restored Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

“The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a critical victory for the Allies in the First World War and it was an important milestone for Canada,” said the Prime Minister. “Our young country came of age as an independent nation that day and I am extremely proud to represent Canada at the 90th anniversary.”

The Battle of Vimy Ridge marked the first time all four Divisions of the Canadian Corps had gone into battle together. Their victory, which came at a cost of more than 10,000 casualties including 3,598 dead, was a vital strategic breakthrough that had eluded their British and French allies for two years. April 9, 2007, will be the first time since 1917 that April 9 has fallen on Easter Monday.

Based on what we've heard from CTV, you'd think that after this announcement went out, a mere six days before the anniversary ceremony, and then opposition staff were on the phone complaining to the Prime Minister's Office, who then hastily scribbled an invitation on a yellow sticky after the media howled.

Not true.

The CTV spin is a bit off. But the opposition story also requires some evaluation.

The opposition claims that the invitations came on March 30, Friday, and only after the media first reported that no invitations had arrived:

Opposition party members have been invited to attend the 90th anniversary ceremony of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France next week.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended the invitation on Friday after opposition leaders expressed disappointment that they were not invited.

A spokesman for the prime minister said Friday evening invitations have been extended to the party whips — MPs who are responsible for ensuring MPs in each caucus attend votes and other parliamentary business.

"It’s up to each party to select who attends," spokesman Dimitri Soudas said in an e-mail.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton had expressed disappointment through spokesmen earlier in the day, saying the Vimy Ridge ceremony is a non-partisan occasion to honour those who fought and died in the First World War battle that is often described as a coming of age for Canada.

OK, this is also not capturing what really happened.

The invitations were issued on Thursday afternoon, hand-delivered to the opposition whips, ahead of any media coverage of this issue. The opposition is spinning this to sound like the invitations came on Friday after the media got involved.

Simply not the case.

Well, we don't know what the whips did with the invitations. We don't when they were opened and read. But I do know that the invitations were issued 24 hours earlier than is being reported, almost two weeks ahead of the ceremony that everyone knew was coming for months.

Now CTV does get this part right -- there is no excuse for not going:

Just for the sake of argument, let's assume what Stephane Dion is saying is true. The Conservatives did not issue an invitation until after the media reported on the snub. Let's say that it was an attempt to make the opposition look bad.

What have you seen in the way Stephen Harper has been navigating the difficulties of governing with a minority government that makes you think he would think such a lame plan would work?

And if the opposition was really offended at the pitiful partisan foolishness, and they were really above the partisanship, why would they be playing to the media trying to embarrass the Conservatives? If they were really offended at the idea of using the Vimy ceremony for partisan political goals, wouldn't they have kept quiet, taken their invitations, and just have gone to the ceremony without all this play-acting to the press?

Finally, with Stephane Dion's performance so far as leader and that of the Liberal Party in general, do you think it is reasonable to believe that the Liberal Party strategists would have thought this attempt to embarrass the Conservatives was a brilliant ploy, guaranteed to win?

The invitations arrived Thursday, unprompted by media interest, hand-delivered to the opposition whips, nearly two weeks ahead of the ceremony.

End of story.