Preston Manning has been a little over-active lately. Suddenly he appearing on the pages of Fraser Institute documents, co-authoring a framework to hand Canada to the United States and now, he's going to have his own radio program.
Preston Manning is taking a page from Edward R. Murrow's book, hosting a new CBC Radio One series called This I Believe.There is something quite stunning about this. Preston Manning attempting to emulate Edward R. Murrow? Are you kidding?Like the famous newsman's 1951 series of the same name, it will feature the famous, and the not-so-famous, talking about their personal beliefs.
Manning said he hopes to include many ordinary Canadians in the 12-week series, to start May 14.That's nice. But I still don't get why Manning is hosting this. Is this a program that CBC developed and then went looking for a host? Or, is this a Manning creation which he pitched?
Either way, Manning would seem to be an unlikely fixture in the halls of the "Mother Corp". Remember, this is the publicly-funded CBC from which Manning will be speaking. The same publicly-funded CBC that Manning and his Reform Party were intent on seeing scrapped. From Maclean's October 28, 1996 on the Reform Party Election Platform: (emphasis mine)
The glossy 23-page document sets out the kind of Canada that Reform envisions for the 21st century. It is a Canada that, among other things, would forgo public funding for such 20th-century institutions as the CBC , Via Rail and Canada Post, in favor of pouring more money into health care and education - not to mention bankrolling a proposed $2,000 tax cut for the average family of four. It is also a Canada where Ottawa would stop funding welfare programs and eliminate or drastically curtail its role in a number of other areas, including regional development, the Office of Official Languages and Indian Affairs.From flip-flopping on the "gold-plated pension plan" to taking a position at the CBC, hypocrisy, thy name is Manning.
(Hat tip Bob)
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