and this is who was elected in our riding ...

a resident and member to be proud of ...

Tory MP suggests jailing bad journalists
Canadian Press,31/03/06

Vernon, B.C. — A backbench Conservative MP, blasting the media for its testy relationship with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has suggested reporters who write distorted articles be jailed.

In a brief column sent to several newspapers in his Okanagan-Shuswap riding, Colin Mayes said that might help the public “get accurate and true information.”

Mr. Mayes seemed to suggesting in his column that the media be covered by something like the Conservative government's proposed Federal Accountability Act, which would prosecute elected officials and senior public servants who break the public trust.

“Maybe it is time that we hauled off in handcuffs reporters that fabricate stories, or twist information and even falsely accuse citizens,” he writes.

The column was e-mailed Thursday to nine small Okanagan papers, as well as the Vernon Daily Courier, by Wayne McGrath, Mr. Mayes's executive assistant.

The Courier recently decided not to publish the MP's regular columns.

On Wednesday, David Wylie, the paper's managing editor, published an editorial saying Mr. Harper's media policies were “mimicking the ploys of an authoritarian state ...”

Mr. Harper has restricted access to ministers after cabinet meetings and barred reporters from observing photo opportunities.

Ministers are also required to restrict their public comments to the government's five key priorities and clear contacts with the media through the Prime Minister's office.

Mr. Mayes, a businessman and former mayor of Dawson City, Yukon and Salmon Arm, B.C., easily won the solidly Tory riding in the Jan. 23 election, replacing the retiring Darryl Stinson.

In his column, he writes that he was “perturbed” by the media's reaction to Mr. Harper's attitude to reporters.

“The media has blatantly painted a picture that our government is not open and transparent,” he writes. “We were elected just two months ago to run the affairs of the country for the people, not to accommodate the media.”

Along with business people, politicians and public servants, the media also has the public trust, he writes.

While not all media are bad, the Tory backbencher says, “boy, would the public get accurate and true information if a few reporters were hauled away to jail!”

But it will never happen “because the media would cry ‘censorship' and ‘authoritarian state' ... but the truth is we need ethical leadership from the media too.”

Mr. Mayes could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Mr. Wylie said he thought Mr. Mayes's comments were “a little over the top.

“If members of his government are trying not to paint themselves as extremists or fanatics, this is not the way to go about doing it.”

a little more to get you aquainted with colin mayes ... he was our mayor then went on to be a conservative mp (i could be wrong, and can't find the article again, but if memory serves me correctly, the / his voter support did not come from salmon arm proper, instead it came from other areas in the riding ... think a lot of voters got tired of him as mayor) anyway ... he was being 'sued'; and i don't know what the outcome of that was ... during the campaign he 'ducked' questions like crazy .... when harper came to visit during the campaign, harper didn't even know colin's 'name' ... he talked like the green-horn when 'elected' ... he talked about 'emerson' ... and even after tory's were muzzled he went on to talk about the 'gun registry' ... and then defiant of the harper muzzle ... ...you judge, do people vote for the party or the candidate ...