(Canadian prime minister's office) hired Ari Fleischer twice, documents show

[Newsjock]

Source: Canadian Press

A former spokesman for George W. Bush received a second sole-source contract from the Prime Minister's Office for American communications advice, according to filings with the U.S. Justice Department.

Ari Fleischer was hired for a month last spring to help Stephen Harper get American media exposure in advance of a critical G20 summit in London.

But a second communications contract with the PMO, worth the same $24,500 as the first, was paid out to Mr. Fleischer on Sept. 28.

... Canadian news consumers, who this week are seeing their first limited interviews with Mr. Harper about his Christmas holiday decision to suspend Parliament, might aspire to the access provided for conservative American opinion-leaders – eight of whom enjoyed dinner with the Prime Minister in Washington last Mar. 29 at the invitation of Mr. Fleischer.

The guest list included newspaper columnists Charles Krauthammer, David Frum, Peggy Noonan, David Brooks and Anne Applebaum, senior editors Fred Barnes and William Kristol, and conservative syndicated talk-radio host Laura Ingraham.

The following day, Mr. Fleischer arranged a lunch meeting between Mr. Harper and the president of Fox News Channel, Roger Ailes, and with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns Fox.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/pmo-hired-ari-fleischer-twice/article1421410/

[tanyev]

1. Uh-oh! Canadians, get ready to watch what you say, watch what you do.

*cue ominous music*

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. I sorta figured it would have to be Harper

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He's our Bush-lite ya know . . .

(sigh)