Opinion

Are YOU on Stephen Harper’s #EnemyList?

By admin

July 18, 2013 5 min. read

This article is more than 11 years old

As political journalist, Susan Delacourt, reported in the Toronto Star, Conservatives won’t say WHO is on “enemy” lists. No wonder!! It has chilling echoes of Tricky Dick, and Watergate. But as the author of a new book, Banned on the Hill: a true story about dirty oil and government censorship, it did NOT come as any shock to me that Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper keeps an #‎EnemyList.

I am on it.

The evidence has been piling up. Over the past 2 years, I've obtained 2,172 Access-to-Information documents — all related to me — from 4 different federal departments.

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They REALLY don't like me talking about climate change.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jean-Bruno Villeneuve said in an internal email, "The artist's work dealt mostly with climate change and was advocating a message that was contrary to government policies on the subject." That statement is a chilling example of how free expression in our democracy is being squashed.

If Art has to agree with government policies, then 'Art Equals Government Propaganda'.

I still find it shocking that the Canadian Government warned people not to show my artwork. I first realized what they were doing in Spring 2011…

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What happened to me is political interference — bureaucrats were just following orders from Ottawa. Just like the newly leaked "Enemy List" email. It clearly shows that the Prime Minister's office (PMO) is instructing bureaucrats to identify and freeze out "enemies."

LEAKED EMAIL FROM THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE Reported by Global News, Toronto Star, PostMedia and CBC:

July 4 2013 Leaked email from PMO's office Interestingly, the PMO's office is out of reach of access-to-information requests. The only reason we are seeing the email is because it was leaked. Whereas, the evidence I have is through access-to-information requests. See the internal government email below which is heavily blacked-out for reasons of "international security" and conversations with, or about, a minister. Note the disturbing subject line and then imagine what is hiding under the black marker. (The Office of the Information Commissioner is currently investigating the legitimacy of the redactions.) Bureaucrat Thomas Marr's redacted email feautured in Banned on the Hill by Franke James embiggen FrankeJamesisYourFault500 ThomasMarrBlamesVlatka500 ThomasMarrAmbassador_500 GreenMonster_BannedOnTheHill Harper_BigStink Ambassador_ScottHeatherington_email

So how can Canadians show the Prime Minister that putting people on #EnemyLists is Evil? (And against democracy)

Use social media!! On July 16th at about 11pm, a friend direct messaged me: "Do you know of anyone making up "I'm on Harper's Enemy List" or variants T-shirts? Otherwise if I have art I can print iron-on decals…" I responded within minutes: "Clever. Great idea. Let me talk to Bill. We could do it on Cafe Press." By 1:45am, we had created the t-shirt using an illustration of mine of Harper from my book, Banned on the Hill: a true story about dirty oil and government censorship

We crafted the slogan so that it picked up on Twitter's use of hashtags and also used @pmHarper to be in tune with the platform. (It also works well that Harper announced his cabinet shuffle on Twitter showing that it's a platform he uses.) Buy the #EnemyList T-shirt or Tank top on Cafepress: www.cafepress.com/frankejames Here are some of the tweets that show it's reception…

I want one!!! MT @stephenlautens Gotta love @frankejames's #EnemyList tee What to wear on tours of the Hill pic.twitter.com/m6mhI157hI #cdnpoli

— deBeauxOs (@deBeauxOs1) July 17, 2013

Gotta love @frankejames's #EnemyList tee shirt – Good to wear on tours of the Hill http://t.co/zUCYvZPwz6 pic.twitter.com/UTu2WLrq48 #cdnpoli

— Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) July 17, 2013

@frankejames A fashion statement for Free Expression, perfect compliment to my new book, Banned on the Hill.#cdnpoIi pic.twitter.com/wf2fdx7EsM

— Stephen Elmy (@StephenElmy) July 17, 2013

All the cool kids are going to want one of @frankejames t-shirts: http://t.co/FVx7UAruO4 #cdnpoli

— Angella MacEwen (@AMacEwen) July 17, 2013

@Belgraves @TraceyKent Of course @frankejames is the one to come up with the tshirt!

— Matthew Barlow (@Matthew_Barlow) July 17, 2013

@frankejames seen #TrickyDick Nixon's Enemies List? The inspiration for #SleazySteve Harper's #enemieslist http://t.co/ZFuxUT89xV

— Pete Quily (@pqpolitics) July 17, 2013

Are YOU on Harper's #Enemy List? Wear it proudly! Get your own t-shirt or tank top! http://t.co/XJNSeDLIqm #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/TX2tS3yMA1

— Franke James (@frankejames) July 17, 2013

Update: #EnemyList is now trending!

#EnemyList is now trending in Canada http://t.co/HWDJesNrux "I'm on Harper's EnemyList" shirts http://t.co/Sy3QmUdygQ pic.twitter.com/BFUiVwdlFR

— Franke James (@frankejames) July 18, 2013

Dying to know if I'm on the #HarperGovt #EnemyList. People are now having #EnemyList parties… what if I'm not invited?? Woe!

— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) July 18, 2013

"If Art has to agree with government policies, then ‘Art Equals Government Propaganda’" via @frankejames http://t.co/ar3VuAb4R1 #EnemyList

— Kaitlin McNabb (@kaitlinmcnabb) July 18, 2013

"Are YOU on Stephen Harper’s #EnemyList?" http://t.co/Eyp96QRMIc A great piece from @frankejames

— A.T. Kingsmith (@akingsmith) July 18, 2013

HaHa! Look who's on Harper's #EnemyList! (Author unknown). My related blacklist post http://t.co/qW1TXbIi3A #CDNpoli pic.twitter.com/6wFSX6KscO

— Franke James (@frankejames) July 18, 2013

Buy the #EnemyList T-shirt or Tank top on Cafepress: www.cafepress.com/frankejames (There are 4 styles to choose from.)

Are YOU on PM Harper's ENEMY BLACKLIST? You could be if you are part of an environmental group, a non-profit organization, or civic and industry associations and have views which are different than the Harper government's. Wear your new ENEMY status proudly! Buy a tank top or t-shirt designed by blacklisted artist Franke James. Get people talking about democracy and freedom of expression!! (Global News, Postmedia, The Toronto Star, CBC News all reported the leaked email from Prime Minister Harper's office asking staff to include a list of "friend and enemy stakeholders" in their transition binders for new ministers appointed in Monday's cabinet shuffle.)

BUY Banned on the Hill: a true story about dirty oil and government censorship

Like a kid in a candy store

When those boxes of heavily redacted documents start to pile in, reporters at The Narwhal waste no time in looking for kernels of news that matter the most. Just ask our Prairies reporter Drew Anderson, who gleefully scanned through freedom of information files like a kid in a candy store, leading to pretty damning revelations in Alberta. Long story short: the government wasn’t being forthright when it claimed its pause on new renewable energy projects wasn’t political. Just like that, our small team was again leading the charge on a pretty big story.

In an oil-rich province like Alberta, that kind of reporting is crucial. But look at our investigative work on TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline to the west, or our Greenbelt reporting out in Ontario. They all highlight one thing: those with power over our shared natural world don’t want you to know how — or why — they call the shots. And we try to disrupt that.

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