Miro Cernetig to Gregor Robertson: The Kiss of Death?

Much has been made about a column written by The Vancouver Sun’s Miro Cernetig on the weekend.

Therein, Miro, whom I know personally, attempted to detail Mayor Gregor Robertson’s ‘success story’.

The column mostly hinged on a poll done by a local firm that allegedly shows Gregor Robertson with “78% approval ratings” and has been lavishly praised by the sycophants in the Vision Vancouver bailiwick, both on and off the blogosphere and panned by critics, who considered it, to use the patois of the street, a puff piece.

Before I tell you exactly what it was and provide you the perspective that will have my old pal Miro wishing he’d not read this post (or written such a shoddy piece) and The Vancouver Sun red-faced in embarrassment–some background…

I’ve known Miro Cerentig for quite a few years now. When he first came back to the Sun from China some years ago, he and I met several times to talk about Sam Sullivan and the way his tenure as Mayor of Vancouver had gone. Affable, polite and inquisitive, I thought Miro a reasonable chap with a good resume and accomplished documentary filmmaker (his recent one called ‘Carbon Hunter’ about cap and trade and carbon trading was a very enjoyable and informative piece of documentary work).

What I noticed most about Miro, and admired, was that he was very eager to know the political players in town. This is a key to good reporting on any issue, but particularly on the city scene, where most of the reporters are highly-partisan, left-leaning, progressive sock-puppets, you really need to be able to tell the players apart. It’s the ‘Wild West’ of politics–any old lie can pass for fact if you aren’t careful. But Miro always asked me reasonable questions and was tremendously courteous. We engaged in more than a few (mostly polite) debates: I found him intelligent and reasonable (much like the Tyee’s Monte Paulsen, but certainly without Paulsen’s legendary, ACCURATE and effective research ability–a comparison here is perhaps unfair because Paulsen is that extraordinary–only Sean Holman bests all in that department)

But I digress…

After some time had passed, and I began reading Miro’s pieces in the Sun, but particularly when he was writing about “leaders”, I became concerned that he was more interested in how to get the story, than the actual accuracy of the story itself. Being labelled by one prominent long-time local journalist accordingly: “Cerentig is ‘Old Faithful’…he’s like the gal in high school you could always count on for a soda, a movie and a fifteen minute meaningful relationship…I have no idea why Patricia (Graham) allows him to shovel such shit…he should be earning exclusives and follow-up interviews like the rest of us and not because he’s fawning all over who he thinks is this year’s flavor just to get a glimpse at some made-up poll”

How prophetic…

Until this past weekend, the best example of this, that Miro has written about, (although there are several) was his piece on Sam Sullivan’s engagement in January of 2008. While the city was in a tail-spin over all sorts of Sam foibles, Miro decided that rather than do some heavy-lifting and produce a piece seeking answers to the questions Allen Garr, Frances Bula and I were asking on an almost weekly basis, he would instead talk about such important matters as Sam’s girlfriend, then fiance (who was/is as Miro stated a very special, kind woman) being a former florist. It was strange that he would write about such nothingness, relative to some very difficult-to-accept (and I’m being generous here) initiatives pouring from the well-head of Sam’s mania for lunatic fringe policy fondling.

So, this column Miro wrote on Gregor Robertson and that the Sun published over the weekend, really, more so than anything, is a screaming emblem to convenience journalism–from the ‘I’ll-be-nice-to-you-so-make-sure-if-you’ve-got-a-piece-I-can-get-out-on-the-front-page-you’ve-got-my-number-on-speed-dial’ Department.

In a nutshell, Miro could have just written: Let me tell you about a little man-love for a handsome West Side hippie in Armani, who sees raising chickens and social change as a priority, dresses in green, walks on water. The End.

And aside from the breathtaking ignorance of how the province works (no Miro, neither the Liberals or NDP would even spit at Gregor for leader, that’s why his people are playing footsie with the federal Liberals about possibly running him in Vancouver Center and bumping off old Bessie Fry, but don’t let me wake you) Additionally, Miro disregards how Vision Vancouver, if a provincial entity, would split the vote with the NDP, guaranteeing a problem on the left. But, again, that would have interrupted the long kiss…

When he wrote, too, about how Robertson has not been identified as being in a close relationship with unions (as one of his strengths), I almost fell out of my chair.

Let’s help poor Miro, who missed these little nuggets from the ‘Schedule A Campaign Contributions, Part B List of Contributors, Vision Vancouver Financial Disclosure (List of Contributors who contributed $100.00 or more) 2008′:

CUPE (B.C.) $145,000.00

Local 391 $10,500.00

Local 1004 $55,150.00

Local 116 (UBC employees) $5,900.00

Local 15 $40,150.00

No, no, Miro, no relationship between Gregor and the unions at all…of course not. None…

But, what was the lynch-pin to the entire Miro column on Gregor Robertson was a poll showing the Mayor of Vancouver with some stellar numbers. In fact, a “78% approval rating”.

According to Cernetig, Gregor inflatable doll in hand, the poll was done by a company called “Stratcom — the polling company that has the mayor’s party, Vision, as a client but is known for carrying out reliable surveys”

Really? “Reliable?” How do you know that, Miro? Don’t you have an obligation to tell your readers? Maybe they are very reliable, but how did you arrive at that?

Now, you’d think any responsible journalist (or editor), right off the top, would immediately flag as problematic the fact that Stratcom hails Vision Vancouver as a client (meaning they worked very hard to get them elected). But apparently not at the Vancouver Sun, where there was no responsible journalistic standard applied here–none whatsoever.

So, let’s help Miro again, and this time his employer, too…

Stratcom is owned by Bob Penner. A hardcore Vision supporter, whose company was involved in all sorts of highly-partisan support for Vision and Gregor Robertson prior to and during the 2008 Vancouver municipal campaign. Penner is actually a friend of Gregor Robertson’s and shares a very close relationship with Mike Magee, Robertson’s Chief of Staff, and the wizard behind Vision’s curtain (who along with City Manager Penny Ballem, runs the city).

More troubling is that Miro ignored going down a list of Stratcom clientele and connecting the (OBVIOUS) dots…

BC Federation of Labour

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP)

Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT)

United Steel Workers of America (USWA)

And then the political clients…

British Columbia New Democratic Party  (BCNDP)

Federal New Democratic Party
Jack Layton Leadership Campaign

Larry Campbell and Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) (Vancouver)

Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP)

Interesting that they don’t list Vision Vancouver…starting to see through the fog?

Of course, there are also these impartial, non-left wing/NDP/Vision affiliated clients…nope, not these folks, Miro…

The David Suzuki Foundation

Greenpeace
Ontario

Nature–Federation of Ontario Naturalists

Public Service Employees for Environmental Ethics

Sierra Legal Defence Fund

World Wildlife Fund

And for good measure…

Amnesty International

The Coalition for Gun Control.

Now, if that isn’t enough…let’s follow some money…

(18/10/2006): $3,000.00

(12/04/2007): $3,000.00

(12/04/2007): $2,000.00

(27/07/2007):$35,106,00

(27/07/2007):$4, 898.00

GRAND TOTAL: $48,004.73

Unfamiliar with what these amounts represent? Why, they represent none other than the political donations Stratcom made to the very party, Vision Vancouver, that Mayor Robertson represents. Yes, Stratcom Communications, the company that did the polling Miro Cernetig joyously quoted from, showing the Mayor as the ‘Second Coming’, made these unusually large donations between October 2006 and July 2007. Look for yourselves, here, about half-way down Page 4.

Quite apart from the rather large amount coming from a public relations company…

Feeling faint from the stench, yet?

Wait, there’s more…

(04/07/2008): $2,000.00

(11/10/2008): $56,525.00

GRAND TOTAL: $58,525.00

What’s this? Well, this is the amount of money Stratcom Communications gave Vision Vancouver in 2008, between July and October. You can see it, here.

So…a communications firm that is closerthanthis with key hierarchs in Vision Vancouver, whose owner, Bob Penner, is a friend of Gregor Robertson’s gave a whopping, combined total in donations of $106,529.73 to Vision Vancouver between October 18th, 2006 and October 11th, 2008.

And this is the firm that did the “impartial” polling of the Mayor’s numbers… Miro conveniently doesn’t tell us, either (because he has no clue what to ask for) if the poll questions were asked by men or women. What was/were the specific question(s)? What order were the questions asked in? Sample size? Throughout the city? Specifically, where? …since Stratcom would have all the poll results and be able to pinpoint, down to specific households, which neighborhoods might be better ones to call.

Was the poll skewed or dishonest? You be the judge. I called Bob Penner’s office on six different occasions today and made it clear that it was an urgent matter each time. I wanted to hear from him if he thought that it was appropriate for his company, a rabid supporter-firm and donor to the very client, Vision Vancouver, to be doing what is supposed to be beyond reproach work in this case.

But he refused to take my call.

Is Penner someone with something to hide in this matter? Again, you be the judge.

As for the Vancouver Sun, I can only state what I have repeated before. Under Dennis Skulsky, many of the CanWest ‘team’ was ill-served and intimidated by his close friendship with our utterly dishonest Premier (look at the huge spike in anti-Campbell stories since Skulsky left…he is now infesting the front office of the B.C. Lions). But the Sun brand, specifically, continues to take a beating under Patricia Graham and Kirk Lapointe, who are clearly more concerned with pandering, biased reporting (an eco-fraud like Suzuki as guest editor?) and often times will only throw out competing views for fun. (Their shameless global warming alarmism is particularly problematic).

I feel very sorry for exceptional Sun writers and columnists like Vaughn Palmer (the provincial standard), Jonathan Manthorpe, Chad Skelton (superb investigative skills), Doug Ward (more balance than a scale), Scott Simpson, Jeff Lee (who should really be the only guy writing about the local beat since he knows it almost better than anyone), Kim Bolan, Neal Hall, David Baines and Gregory Thomas…

…because they are “teamed” with biased drivel-peddlers like Yaffe (paint-by-numbers federal Liberal speaking notes), McKnight (an stunning pomposity, without second), Mulgrew, McMartin and now Cerentig.

Miro’s piece, from this last weekend, on Gregor Robertson’s purported popularity, was the worst column written by a local journalist about civic matters in years, if not for its determined bias, as for its shameful, complete lack of research-backed credibility. And it’s part of a pattern by Cernetig that can no longer be ignored.

But wait…the last time Miro so blatantly did one of these, it was for then Mayor Sullivan…and Sam was done within six months.

So was it an audible’Kiss of Death’?

No. Not yet. That sound you heard was just the Gregor inflate-a-mate popping…

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