11 September 2008

Strange bedfellows 2: Paul Oram's fickle affections

How quickly doth love turn to hate in the land of politics.

Remember this from Day 9 of the Summer of Love 2007?

Even the Premier's parliamentary assistant will be able to get in on the electioneering. The last SOL release for Thursday was an announcement of a photo op involving federal fish minister Loyola Hearn and the Premier's Open Line crackie, Paul Oram.

Oram and Hearn can be photographed at a municipal water and sewer project in Oram's district, on Friday at 1:30 PM.

In an election campaign, even the crap is apparently so potentially vote-worthy that a cabinet minister and a wannabe cabinet minister will pose for happy snaps with it.

Now sure, as the Telegram recently pointed out, these cost-shared programs have a promotional clause that requires a news release at least.  That was the official response when a government rep was asked this year about the joint funding announcement issued last week.

But last year - before the provincial general election - it apparently required a photo op and smiles with the minister with whom the provincial government was supposedly locked in a blood feud.

How times change

Campaign photo ops one day.  Daggers on the open line shows the next.

-srbp-