Harper flamed over flag-lowering

[tuvor]

James Gordon, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, June 19, 2006

OTTAWA -- Furious Canadians bombarded the prime minister with e-mail following controversial spring decisions not to lower Parliament Hill flags for soldiers killed in Afghanistan or allow the public to view their return to Canada, documents obtained by CanWest News Service show.

The letters, sent via Stephen Harper's website and obtained under the Access to Information Act, provide a glimpse into the public psyche during one of the first major missteps by the new Conservative government.

The decisions followed the deaths of four soldiers -- Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Lieut. William Turner and Cpl. Randy Payne -- in a roadside bomb incident.

Of the thousands of e-mails that poured into Harper's office the day after he imposed a press ban on homecoming ceremonies in April, an overwhelming majority were highly critical.

For each positive endorsement of the policies, there were approximately 50 angry notes filled with words such as "disgraceful, shameful and cowardly."

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=f063b2b4-0168-481f-9bae-bcf88bd7efaa&k=25658

[Spazito]

1. I am glad this has been made public! I had little doubt that he would

have received many e-mails showing disgust at Harper's very obvious ploy but didn't think we would ever know for sure.

Thanks for posting!

[HuffleClaw]

2. one of those emails was from me

i was polite but made it clear it was, imho, a bush-inspired political decision and not a canadian thing to do at all.

[MrPrax]

3. I thought I made a comment

in this thread....hmmm, interesting