Shawn Graham's government is preparing to spend 1 million dollars to convince us that we should let him sell NB Power out from underneath us. There are less than a million people in the province, so that tells you Graham knows that it will be an uphill battle.
Among the PR firms he's retained? Hill & Knowlton, best known for their misinformation campaign during the first Gulf War. Don't be surprised if fake citizen's groups promoting the benefits of this deal start to appear. Here's what they did during GWI:
Hill & Knowlton, then the world's largest PR firm, served as mastermind for the Kuwaiti campaign. Its activities alone would have constituted the largest foreign-funded campaign ever aimed at manipulating American public opinion. By law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act should have exposed this propaganda campaign to the American people, but the Justice Department chose not to enforce it. Nine days after Saddam's army marched into Kuwait, the Emir's government agreed to fund a contract under which Hill & Knowlton would represent "Citizens for a Free Kuwait," a classic PR front group designed to hide the real role of the Kuwaiti government and its collusion with the Bush administration. Over the next six months, the Kuwaiti government channeled $11.9 million dollars to Citizens for a Free Kuwait, whose only other funding totalled $17,861 from 78 individuals. Virtually all of CFK's budget - $10.8 million - went to Hill & Knowlton in the form of fees.
Just thought y'all should be aware of the tactics. One million dollars would put a lot of books on library shelves, provide legal aid to a lot of people, provide social assistance to others who need it. That money could also be used for a referendum or listening tour or meaningful public consultations, however you like it.
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