This week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief spin doctor got herself and the Tories into a mess of trouble.  On Thursday, Sandra Buckler claimed the Canadian military had not informed the Cabinet of a new operational policy in Afghanistan. (Our soldiers no longer hand over detainees to potential torturers, the Afghan authorities.)  A day later Buckler had to retract the statement, saying she had ‘misspoken.’ 

It turns out the Prime Minister’s Office along with Defense and Foreign Affairs Departments have known for awhile about the end of these prisoner transfers.  If Buckler knew about this change, and it’s hard to believe she didn’t, she made a serious error in saying something different. Did she make a mistake as she seems to imply or did she lie?

Today, designated Conservative M.P.s rushed to Buckler’s defense after a caucus meeting in Ottawa.  This is not the kind of publicity the Government’s Director of Communications wants.  Nor would any media relations type!   Is Buckler’s credibility with the media severely damaged?  For now, the Harper Government is standing by her.

What is ironic about this communications fiasco is that the Manley report, released this week, recommended that the goverment provide “franker and more frequent reporting on events in Afghanistan.”  Ouch!!