Politics as Communications: Interview with Hon. Garth Turner MP
Most legislators have a web site but few use them to the same extent as Garth Turner. Mr. Turner was MP for Halton Peel from 1988-1993. After thirteen years in the private sector he returned to the House of Commons in January 2006. In this interview he discusses his political career and why he thinks technology is the key to reinvigorating parliamentary institutions and improving relations between elected MPs and the electors. The interview was conducted by Gary Levy in June 2006.
It has been thirteen years since you Did your experience in the private have always felt our Canadian built were last a Member of the House of sector lead you to this realization? heritage has been overlooked. Commons. What has changed? Not really. I am basically a journal- Like many Canadians in and out- Some things have changed dramati- ist and an entrepreneur. In 1993 I side of Parliament I was aware of cally. Other things are exactly the joined CTV and became a business the general disillusionment with same. In terms of technology there Editor for them. I authored seven politics. This was reflected in low was no internet, no web casting, no best-selling books on business and voter turnout and various other blackberries when I was here last. finance, hosted the country's most ways. The fundamental machinery of gov- watched business television show. I ernment and the fundamental ma- spent eight years on the speaking Was it a difficult decision to go chinery of the House has not circuit, going coast to coast giving back into politics? changed. What I do perceive after seminars on personal finances. Six No but like most people I expected thirteen years in the private sector is years ago I founded Toronto-based the government to be defeated in more cycnicsm and more misunder- Millennium Media Television an in- the Spring of 2004. Shortly after standing of Parliament. I sense that dependent producer of network winning a hotly contested nomina- the place is in ill repute. Perhaps it is television programming. The com- tion for the Conservative Party in because of the scandals or perhaps pany has produced series for CTV, May 2004 I realized it was going to there are other reasons. This led me Global, YTV (Youth TV), TVO (TV be months before the election was to reflect on how I might play a Ontario) and other Canadian and called. For eight months I cam- small part in changing that. So one international broadcasters. paigned every day. It was a fantas- of my goals in politics is to give peo- My wife Dorothy and I founded tic opportunity to take the pulse of ple the opportunity to know more the Credit River Company. Our the riding. I knocked on over 25,000 about Parliament and their elected mission statement was “heritage, doors in my riding of Halton. Im- members by means of the internet. landmarks and environment” and mediately after being nominated I we brought back as viable busi- started a daily diary or Blog on my nesses many heritage buildings. I web site and I have been very care-
40 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW / AUTUMN 2006 ful to keep it updated. It has proven For example, I turned the tables on fall I hope to expand MPTV to do to be quite popular and within three several journalists by interviewing daily broadcasts. months I was getting more than a Mike Duffy of CTV, Bill Rodgers of million hits per month. the Sun, and Hannah Boudreau of Aside from interviewing fellow Global TV. I also interviewed the parliamentarians can you give How would you describe your web Speaker of the House of Commons, some other examples of how you site? Peter Milliken, several cabinet Min- use or plan to use the web site? Like all sites it is a work in progress. isters including the President of the The possibilities are endless. The However it is important to have an Treasury Board, John Baird and only limit is our imagination. In a underlying philosophy and from Health Minister Tony Clement, and minority Parliament members can- the beginning I wanted my web site one party Leader, Jack Layton. But not travel home as often as they to be primarily an interactive politi- the majority of interviews have would like since there may be votes cal portal and not a photo album, a been with ordinary members of Par- going on in Ottawa. If I am stuck in vanity site or a forum for partisan liament, from all parties. The main- Ottawa I can walk into my studio, advocacy. stream media tends to ignore flick on four switches and be on the The site has three main elements. anyone who is not a Cabinet Minis- internet. I can have a video confer- It is a bona fide daily news service ter or party leader and I think a ence with someone in my constitu- from which viewers can receive na- number of private members have ency office or in his or her home or tional, international and local news. interesting stories to tell and de- office. If that person has a computer I want this to be hard news and not serve to be better known. and a web cam we can meet in real necessarily political spin. The sec- I do not try to replay Question Pe- time and I can try to help them with ond element is my Blog which I try riod or score political points. My their issues. If a constituent is cele- to write every day. It is my personal goal is to give viewers a look at the brating a 90th birthday or a 60th reflections on politics and public life human side of politics by talking wedding anniversary I can arrange and it tends to provoke reactions of about daily life on the Hill with all to send them video greetings or both praise and damnation. its joys and frustrations. In this way even make an appearance, in real I hope the average citizen will be The latest element of the site is time, on their computer at the time able to identify with the men and streaming web video which I call of the celebration. If there is an women who serve them in Ottawa MPTV. While still in the early event in my constituency stick a and perhaps end up with a slightly stages, I am convinced this is the monitor on a desk and I can be there better opinion of us as a group. We way of the future and there has been even though I am really some 400 also have to get along in Parliament tremendous response since I started kilometers away in Ottawa. We are and these sessions can contribute to broadcasting MPTV in June 2006. just scratching the surface of what better relations between individu- The site also contains other con- we can do. Eventually I may have als from different parties. Among online office hours when my tent including links to a number of the MPs I interviewed during the newspaper articles that I wrote in constituents can interact with me as first month of MPTV were Garry easily as if I was in my constituency. the past and a number of audio Breitkreuz, Myron Thompson, Lee podcasts that I did during my first Richardson, Gord Brown, Helena There does not seem to be an obvi- few weeks in Ottawa after the elec- Guergis, Ron Cannan, Senator ous Conservative connection on tion. Audio is probably the least ef- Marjory LeBreton, John McCallum your website fective medium for the internet and and Peter Stoffer. I also gave view- That is deliberate and I have taken while I may do a few more I think ers a tour of the newly renovated Li- heat for not having a Conservative we will focus on more video than brary of Parliament and in the logo on my website. But there is a audio in the future. future I will take them to other parts reason. I am the Member of Parlia- of the Parliamentary Precincts ment for all the people of Halton. I What type of things do you cover rarely seen by most Canadians. on MPTV? represent all my electors whether These interviews were broadcast they voted for me or for the Liberals, I did a number of interviews with live at 7:00 pm on Thursdays in June the NDP or even if they did not vote some high profile individuals and and they are archived and available at all. The last thing I want to do is to with some others who are probably for later viewing on my site. In the push a party logo in the face of some less well-known outside of Ottawa. constituent who is asking me to help
AUTUMN 2006 /CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW 41 with some particular issue. I think tium, the authoritative global tech- MPs are broadcasting or creating many members of Parliament are nical governance body. The page content for the internet the way I losing a great opportunity to con- can be viewed in French, German, am. As time goes by more and more nect with their constituents when Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. I of them will come to the conclusion they turn the content of their web won't go into any of the technical that this is the way to go. It is not re- sites over to party headquarters. gobblygook but the web site con- ally that complicated. Young peo- I should add that I am willing to forms to the highest accessibility ple coming out of university today make my studio and facilities avail- compliance requirements for users have all the skills needed to run this able to other Members of Parlia- with physical handicaps. I know of technology. The hardware and soft- ment regardless of party if they find no other web site for federal elected ware are affordable and easy to themselves stuck in Ottawa for a representatives or government de- learn. vote when they have an important partments that offers such a high meeting in their constituency. level of accessibility for disabled What impact is this going to have Canadians. on politics and on the media? Your website must consume enor- I think there are significant conse- mous resources both in terms of How much of your own time is de- quences for MPs. In an earlier era time and money? Do you have ex- voted to this project? the railways were a revolutionary tra staff to manage your web site? The major task for me is writing the technology. They not only tied the Not at all. The site is completely Blog. It is about 700 words every country together but were the controlled by me and my two office day. I tend to do this at around 11:00 means by which MPs came to Ot- staff in Ottawa. We select the items pm each night and it takes an hour tawa. Today the Internet is the tech- that appear in our news service. We or so. I also spend some time re- nology that brings the country do the filming, editing, graphics, sponding to comments from my together and takes MPs to their con- postings and virtually all other on- BlackBerry but this can be done stituents. going work in connection with the while I am in the Chamber or in There will also be a significant site.Ididpay,outofmyown committee or at the airport. I enjoy impact on the media. Many foresee pocket, about $20,000 for the neces- writing and I can do it fairly quickly a decline in the printed newspaper sary cameras and related parapher- so this is not too onerous a task. The as a source of information and an in- nalia. The bandwidth for MPTV is MPTV interviews take about 2 crease in the use of online news ser- provided by the House of Com- hours of my time per week. I would vices. There will also be a change in mons since it has excess and unused estimate that my staff spend about the relationship between journalists capacity in the evening hours. Any 20 hours a week on web-related and politicians. Members will come other expenses come out of a regu- activities. to realize that they do not have to go lar office budget that is available to trolling for microphones after ques- all MPs. What has been the reaction of your tion period. They can, if they want, I did have some assistance in de- colleagues to this project? get their message complete and signing the site from William unedited out on the internet and di- Well some look at me a bit sideways Stratas of Planetcast. He created a rected to precisely the people they but after only three weeks MPTV is page that is hand-coded to the high- want to reach. This has huge impli- fully booked for the foreseeable fu- est technical standards, as specified cations for the mainstream press ture. As far as I am aware no other by the World Wide Web Consor- gallery as we know it.
42 CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW / AUTUMN 2006