Words from the dear leader

Globe and Mail blogger Douglas Bell* had some fun with the maladroit official message from Heritage minister James Moore to last Friday's National Magazine Awards:

“On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I congratulate the winners of the 32nd National Magazine Awards, and I commend your dedication to conveying accurate, pertinent, and interesting information to your Canadian readers. Your contribution to our society's great debates as well as to the development of our culture is essential, and I invite you to pursue your efforts in this direction.”

First of all, to characterize the beneficial content of a magazine as “accurate, pertinent, and interesting information” is like congratulating a surgeon for having washed his hands before the operation. And that bit about “inviting” journalists to do journalism puts Canada on a par with such paragons of free expression as North Korea and Fox News.

That said, I can only imagine that a similar message to the equivalent assemblage in Pyongyang might at least be delivered with the Minister’s tongue planted somewhere near his or her cheek. Hereabouts, not so much.

It's worth looking at the comments on the item, too.

*Readers will doubtless recall Bell's lamentably short reign as a blogger for Toronto Life.