Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Harper government making the trains run blue

The colour of Ontario’s commuter trains was electronically transformed from green to Conservative Party blue in a photograph used to promote the federal budget.

An image that appears both on the Department of Finance website and on the front of a printed pamphlet promoting last mont’s budget shows a sleek locomotive next to a double-decker of the kind seen around Southern Ontario.

The patterns of decorative paint on the train match exactly the distinctive design on GO Trains, with one major difference: the flare on the GO Trains is green, not blue. The GO Train logo has also been disappeared.

The number of the locomotive, 633, pictured in the budget materials looks to be a real Bombardier GO Train photographed by a trainspotter in Mississauga in 2011.

The Conservatives have drawn flack before for changing the colour palate of government websites to party blue and, again, when the Department of National Defence announced it would repaint the executive jet flies Prime Minister Stephen Harper from a neutral, gun-metal grey to a white and blue scheme.

In this case, the Department of Finance says it did not order Photoshopping of the GO Trains, and points to a unilateral decision made by Ottawa-based advertising firm, Acart Communications.

“The advertising agency (Acart) was responsible for the Budget creative, including the colour scheme, that was used for all print products,” said spokesperson Stephanie Rubec in an email.

“No instructions were given to Acart to change the colour of the train.”

Original Article
Source: blogs.ottawacitizen.com
Author:  Glen McGregor

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