Stephen Harper's Conservatives Win CAJ's Code of Silence Award For Most Secretive Government

CP  |  By Posted: 04/29/2012 1:04 am Updated: 04/29/2012 10:09 am

TORONTO - Stephen Harper's Conservative government has won this year's Code of Silence Award from the Canadian Association of Journalists.

The annual award recognizing Canada's most secretive government or publicly funded agency was handed out in Toronto Saturday evening.

The federal government was named for keeping information out of public hands on files such as the F-35 program, avoiding questions at media events and for restricting both public and media access to contentious information.

Association president Hugo Rodrigues said the Harper government was the overwhelming choice of the CAJ's 600 members across the country.

"The death grip on information has long frustrated journalists in this country, but it may now be reaching a point where the public at large is not only empathetic, but shares it," he said.

The CAJ said federal government departments now deal with media almost exclusively by emails that often contain little, if any, of the information requested.

Also on HuffPost:

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  • Most Hilarious Harper Moments

    (CP)

  • The Hat

    It seems the hat is balances carefully on the top of the head, rather than being worn. Stephen Harper, far left, watches a third round match between Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic with his children Rachel, center, and Benjamin, right, at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, in New York.

  • The Vest

    Who can forget this Calgary Stampede ensemble? (CP)

  • The Other Vest

    Harper, centre, chose to wear what amounts to a fishing vest on a trip to Mexico in 2006 (where he visited with U.S. President George Bush (left) and Mexican President Vincente Fox (right)). See how Bush and Fox are decked out in desert duds? Light linen shirts, khakis? Ya, that's what you wear in the desert. (CP)

  • The Headdress

    Harper wears a headdress after being made an honourary chief of the Blood tribe during a ceremony in Stand Off, Alberta in 2011.

  • The Brooding Teen

    Harper was a teenager once too.

  • The Beach Walk

    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/17/stephen-harper-beach_n_1431449.html" target="_hplink">Harper took an awkward walk</a> along the beach in Colombia on a recent trip. (Getty)

  • If You Were A Vegetable?

    "I would choose to be a fruit, just what I am, sweet and colourful."

  • Harper Does Neil Diamond

  • Harper Does The Who

  • Harper Does The Rolling Stones

  • Harper Does The Proclaimers

  • Harper Does The Guess Who

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Dale Chan
Hope is both panacea and poison.
01:40 PM on 04/30/2012
WOOO! WE'RE NUMBER 1! WE'RE NUMBER 1!

Now please sign this confidentiality agreement stating that you will not tell anyone outside of the organization this.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
AlWaterloo
05:25 AM on 04/30/2012
How'd they let this slip out that they won the award?
paintitblacker
shit happens life goes on
03:54 AM on 04/30/2012
the most secretive government off all time , I'll say , vic toews passing of spy bills he hadn't even read , and calling critics supporters of porn, now harper and baird are reveling there refoooorm roots. low level criminals like gordon cambell getting rewarded for the H.S.T. ,we booted him from the party for that lie , harper sent cambell to the u.k. , his job rubber stamping visa's and entry permits to canada, gordon cambell lied his face off while he was the premiere of b.c. there all secretive, most criminal elements are highly secretive
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Nescobar
The CPC.....it's a small mind after all
12:59 AM on 04/30/2012
Atta boy Stevie! I bet you always knew you would be award winning at something.
11:44 PM on 04/29/2012
At least Harper's shadiness is obvious and well known. Thereby making him not shady at all! LOL omg........ I'll keep Harper for a while - at least when he's shady, I get to know about it, and its for stuff I agree with. You Libs and NDPs are absolutely the most back-asswards people I've ever seen. You're the direct result of gov't controlled social programming. People like you are dangerous, and well frankly, you scare me. I don't think we need more environmental scientists! I want two things: close our boarders, and more war planes of any sort. Then, I'm good!
Dinsdale Pirahna
"lookin' out the 'ole in the wall"
12:44 AM on 04/30/2012
Yes we are ignoring you on purpose.
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Nescobar
The CPC.....it's a small mind after all
12:58 AM on 04/30/2012
"Close our boarders"? Which ones...skate or snow?
02:16 AM on 04/30/2012
Aww, it's sort of heartwarming to see someone struggling so hard with both spelling and politics. Chin up, lil' guy! You can do it!
07:03 AM on 04/30/2012
Maybe he wants to close boardinghouses???
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Watson Richardson
11:19 PM on 04/29/2012
Must have forgotten about the years of scandal imposed on us by Chretein, Martin et al. Harper is the best thing to happen to Canada. If you don't like it, move.
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Shakeshaft
Socialist Canadian Infidel
11:30 PM on 04/29/2012
I guess somebody needs to remind you what the award was for...but then again, someone as ignorant to reality as yourself probably doesn't care that their comments has nothing to do with the article.
11:36 PM on 04/29/2012
Don't be so angry. So what, Mommy didn't breast feed you long enough and now you have an insatiable thirst for milk. Don't start hitting the Kool Aid!
11:34 PM on 04/29/2012
Brother you said it. Canadians have worse memories about their government than Americans do.

Okay, maybe the same ;)
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08:57 PM on 04/29/2012
How about an independent CBC. I couldn't get this simple post up on the news site after repeated tries. How dumb of CBC is that?

CBC.ca still won't post this simple comment, despite repeated tries. The Canadian Broadcasting Company. Canada's partly government-funded national and independent broadcaster. Not so on the independent part:

Do you prefer single-engine warplanes we don't need to scientists protecting our environment, food safety, consumers and so on? More Canadians in jail for smoking pot, when the deadly killers (alcohol and tobacco) are just fine?

If yes, I commend you to moron.com. ($1.5 million and it's yours) (~7:00, 8:28, etc.)
08:45 PM on 04/29/2012
CON HILARITY

Nothing hilarious about a ten billion dollars "accounting mistake" in the F 35 s, the Harper people try to get past the goal post.

I hope some people get some pleasure out of those ten billion dollars ... get to feel better about themselves and their finances.
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07:57 PM on 04/29/2012
It's more than you think. Here are a few posts to CBC.ca over the past few hours that it has censored in Mr. Harper's favour. Granted he's stacked the board with his people, eliminated polling, revamped CBC.ca's website to reduce criticism, hired crony "journalists" and on and on. But, geesh!

The broadsides against the tax and spend, socialist Dips is wholly unwarranted. One only has to look at provincial Dip gov'ts to see that isn't even close to the truth in terms of FACTS.

The Dips would save tens of billions on military procurement waste, off the top. Another ten billion or so by scrapping the more prisoners/prisons madness the Cons are foisting on us all. It would be easy to do better than the Cons.

Do you prefer single-engine warplanes we don't need to scientists protecting our environment, food safety, consumers and so on? More Canadians in jail for smoking pot, when the deadly killers (alcohol and tobacco) are just fine?

If yes, I commend you to moron.com. ($1.5 million and it's yours)

The Swiss government? Which has protected brutal dictators and anyone else with millions and billions to hide for centuries, is all of a sudden getting huffy over a Gadhafi business crony? That's rich.

I think it is personal.

Reposting (x2). Geesh, don't know what I'm doing "wrong."

Conrad Black was convicted on relative trivia, much like Al Capone. Black's morals and biases are what put people off.
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Spanky McFarlane
ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM.
07:20 PM on 04/29/2012
Such a teller award !
Something of such value should be kept under lock & key, IMO.

Perhaps they have a Safety Deposit Box in the Camyan Islands that's available?

Has anyone approached Mr. Fantino?
06:52 PM on 04/29/2012
A most deserved award.
Right ? Left ? Nah-
The truth will out.
Most Canadians, of whatever stripe are in no way as small minded as Harper and his cadre.
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06:50 PM on 04/29/2012
I'm sure that Albertans who voted for him couldn't care less about this.

But I really hope that at least people from rural Ontario do give a 5|-|1t
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06:19 PM on 04/29/2012
Fascism by no other words is ultimately secretive, manipulative and restrictive. righthies love it because their pals cons look terrible from what little information is given, they are far worse than their own publicity can ever provide. Right wingers care not of anything else but staying in power. This is why they should only control the medias they own.
05:02 PM on 04/29/2012
The Lefters are upset, Righties are OK with it.

yawn
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
stanschurman
05:10 PM on 04/29/2012
Your point?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
DirkNeptune
I love raspberry pie, damn it.
05:10 PM on 04/29/2012
Thanks Harley, your post is all anyone really needs to know about the right wing.
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04:10 PM on 04/29/2012
Governments that feel they are not accountable to their people, aren't they called something else?
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Another Pesky Canadian
Talk - action = 0
05:34 PM on 04/29/2012
Harpocricy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Runey
religion is why we can't have nice things.
07:29 PM on 04/29/2012
Ooooh i like it! High five.
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BCSLAVE
Got a key?
12:00 AM on 04/30/2012
Well this is a government elected on soiled ticket = gangsters and fraudsters.