Parsing The Dead

TheTruthOfALie
ObfuscationVille

The above is a harsh headline. But when your premier is a man who blithely spouts tiny truths to obscure big lies, it's difficult not to be harsh.

Specifically, during what was meant to be a fluff piece before the opening of the First Nations Summit, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was asked about child poverty and the incomplete files of (at least) 713 dead children on CBC Radio One's 'Early Edition' this morning*

Campbell, clearly annoyed, responded by saying that every single one of the deaths had been 'investigated' they just hadn't been 'reviewed' - yet.

Maybe he should tell that to the grieving families that are waiting for closure.

Or, better yet, perhaps Mr. Campbell should tell that to the former Ombudsman and Children's Commissioner that his government has been ignoring for the last year and a half on this issue.

A former B.C. ombudsman says she tried to warn Premier Gordon Campbell as recently as May of this year that child deaths were not being properly reviewed.....

(snip)

But Dulcie McCallum says the government shouldn't be surprised that hundreds of child deaths were not reviewed. She says that message was being conveyed to senior government officials over a period of 18 months.

McCallum says both she and former Children's Commissioner Cynthia Morton told government officials they were getting calls from people whose complaints about child deaths were not being responded to.

But McCallum says all her attempts to warn the government in writing were ignored, and that Campbell didn't even respond to her letters.


Obfuscation is obfuscation no matter how you twist the words.

Thus, the headline.

Again:

"How do these people sleep at night?"

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Clearly Mr. Campbell was bamboozled into believing he was going to interviewed by the Puffmaster Rick Cluff. Too bad for him Kathryn Gretsinger and Duncan McCue were in the chair this morning. Audio can be found here.

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