Remove the brackets
Seems that the office of Heritage Minister James Moore was in a hurry to get out the message that the Conservative government supports culture.
So much so that his staff didn't wait to confirm the words being put into the mouth of the head of the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown, PEI.
A media release emailed Tuesday to the Parliamentary Press Gallery announced that Ottawa will be increasing the money it sends the centre to $3 million a year by 2012.
The release quoted James Moore: "This new funding increase will ensure that the Confederation Centre for the Arts can continue to offer high-quality programming, such as the musical Anne of Green Gables or the Young@Arts! program, that visitors have enjoyed for years," said Minister Moore.
And it offered this from the recipient of the funds, complete with the following notation in parentheses:
(Proposed quote from the Centre: to be confirmed by the Program)
"The Centre is thrilled to receive this news," said David MacKenzie, CEO of the Confederation Centre for the Arts. "The increase in operating funding and the ability to match endowment gifts will help the Centre be a 21st century celebration of Confederation that expresses Canada's heritage, diversity and creativity through the arts."
Oops. It might have been better to confirm the quotation before issuing the release.
In any event, MacKenzie apparently was delighted because the reference to ''proposed quote'' was removed from the media release distributed electronically via Canada Newswire.
And there's always this explanation, courtesy of a disclaimer attached to the bottom of the email sent to the gallery.
IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL,
— Chris Hall
About the Authors
- Rosemary Barton started her television career reporting from Quebec City where she covered the ins and outs of Quebec politics. She moved to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in 2007. She also stood on the side of road awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade for hours in the cold. When she finally spotted him, all of Canada heard her shriek, "I saw him!"
- Alison Crawford worked in Fredericton, Calgary and Winnipeg before returning to her hometown to work in the CBC parliamentary bureau. Her beats include the RCMP, justice, public safety and the Liberals. Alison credits her investigative skills as well as a national etiquette column and coverage of a ferret Christmas party, with having prepared her for covering national politics.
- Andrew Davidson is a producer for the CBC politics page in Toronto. He joined CBCNews.ca's national desk in 2006 and was the lead news writer for the website's 2008 federal election coverage.
- Chris Hall is the National Affairs Editor for CBC News. He's been a member of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau since 1998. That adds up to 11 budgets, four elections, three prime ministers and too many confidence votes to count. Chris started his career in print before moving to the CBC in 1992. Since then, he's worked in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's, as well as Ottawa.
- Leslie MacKinnon Leslie's been working in news and current affairs since newsrooms used teletype, televison was shot on film and radio tape was edited with a razor blade. She saw through The Journal's long run on CBC-TV, and since then has worked in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in the CBC's various permutations. Right now, she's a TV news reporter in the political bureau, and likes certain parts of Ottawa - the canal, the Hill - a lot.
- Janyce McGregor has been a television producer in the CBC's Parliamentary Bureau since 2001. She started her career working for Studio 2 on TVOntario. In 2005 her then-doctoral student husband persuaded her to follow him to the U.K., where she worked for BBC World Service Radio in London. Janyce is originally a farm girl from southwestern Ontario. Her most important job title is "Norah's Mom."
- Chris Rands has been a member of the Parliamentary bureau since 2001. He started at Toronto's AM Radio giant CFRB before moving to CBC's National Radio News in 1996. Chris has worked in Toronto, Moncton, Sudbury, Regina, Washington and St John's. Every time Chris walks up to the Peace Tower, he wants to throw his hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
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