By IANS,
Washington : Two former White House spokespersons have been hired by the Canadian government to spruce up its image in the US.
According to reports, Michael McCurry, a former press secretary to Bill Clinton, and Ari Fleischer, one of George W. Bush’s press secretaries, have been hired by the Canadian government to secure Prime Minister Stephen Harper interviews with US media outlets.
While Fleisher coordinated the prime minister’s interviews during the recent G-20 meeting in Britain, McCurry is arranging interviews for this week’s Summit of the Americas.
The Canadian prime minister, who rarely interacts with his own national media, has suddenly opened himself to the US media, giving interviews to CNN and other major outlets.
“They are two individuals with experience that is unparalleled in working with the US media…I think it serves Canada well to have some of the basic facts of our relationship better known in the United States,” said Kory Teneycke, communications director for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in Ottawa.
“It is really appropriate for the prime minister to blaze that trail in helping get that story out, and there a number of others who can play a supporting role in communicating in the US,” according to the PMO communications director.
“To view the US government as simply the administration is to not fully understand how the system works. It is also about communicating to governors, the broader US business community, to congressional representatives as well. And Canada is well-served by having these things understood more broadly.”
The Canadian prime minister is reportedly eager to tout the country’s banking system – the only one among G-8 nations to remain untouched by the global meltdown – and highlight the importance of Canadian energy to Americans and the world.