Deferred answer

There’s a reason they call it Question Period, not Answer Period.

Interestingly, though, Terry French on VOCM Nightline with Linda Swain tonight spouted lines like, “you’ve got 43 graduating across the country, and the province of ontario is looking for 50”, made reference to today’s letter in the Telegram by Colin Newman, made repeated references to the number of witnesses in the past five weeks, and expressed his sincerely well-scripted concern for the health care system.

Just like The Boss and Mini-We did in Question Period the House a few hours earlier:

PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, we have to look no further than the top corner of The Telegram today - and I will not read from The Telegram, but I will paraphrase what was said in that top corner. It came from a second year medical student. He basically said: "Watching fantastic physicians having their good names and reputations called into question is not a ringing endorsement of our province as a place to start a career."

Mr. Speaker, as we stand here today, there will be forty graduates - forty-three, I think, if I remember correctly - oncology and pathology graduates that will graduate in all of Canada this year. Ontario needs fifty - that is one Province.

PREMIER WILLIAMS: First of all, let me state for the record that there is absolutely no intention whatsoever to undermine the integrity of the Cameron inquiry. The reason I make these statements is out of a genuine concern for the patients, for the citizens of this Province, and for the health care system in this Province.

MR. KENNEDY: On Thursday past I received a letter seeking an extension of time for the Cameron inquiry. The inquiry was originally meant to file its report by July 30 of this year. Now, we know there were some delays. Then in this letter I see reference to the fact that nineteen witnesses have testified over twenty-nine days. When I break that down a little bit further we get eleven witnesses in the first four days and then eight witnesses in the last five weeks, the last twenty-five days.

So when Yvonne Jones asked:

I ask the Premier if he is saying that no one in his government, him, his staff or his officials, give key messages to open line callers to call in to influence public opinion in this Province?

And:

Whether it is one person or ten different people, I ask the Premier again, have you, your staff or anyone inside your government given notes of key points to be addressed on open line shows to callers in order to influence public opinion?

Danny dodged.

He didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

Terry French, spouting the same lines, almost word for word, just answered the question for him.