Mr. Ed Greenspon,

[CHIMO]

Dear Mr. Greenspon,



The Globe and Mail's front-page story suggesting that the Prime Minister's Office - or his Director of Communications - in any way hampered the efforts of the evacuation of Canadians in Lebanon is absolutely and patently false.



What is particularly unfortunate about your story is that such a statement could make it to the front page of your paper, supported by only unnamed "federal sources" and no effort whatsoever to contact the Prime Minister's Office to verify the accuracy of the claim. If you have a source that made such a false statement, I want to assure you via this letter that it is completely and absolutely untrue. I would also hope that, the next time the Globe and Mail suggests that the Prime Minister's Office was complicit in putting Canadians in harm's way, you would demonstrate the journalistic integrity to name your source and allow this office to comment on the record for the story.



The Prime Minister - and his office - has done everything possible to expedite evacuation efforts and has been receiving hourly updates on the status of operations. The Prime Minister's Office has supported Government officials to leverage every contact and every resource to expedite the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon. The Prime Minister's Office has encouraged Government officials to be as forthcoming and timely with information as possible, while respecting the security protocols required for evacuation planning. The Prime Minister is fully committed to the evacuation of all who choose to leave Lebanon and to ensuring their immediate security and safety.



Given the severity of the current situation and operations in the Middle East, I would strongly encourage you as the Editor in Chief of the Globe and Mail to not allow uninformed and false sniping from the shadows of anonymity. I strongly believe that such serious allegations require sources that are prepared to go on the record - and stand by their statements in the light of day. It is profoundly disturbing and disappointing that an institution such as the Globe and Mail would allow such a story to be printed without either naming its source or allowing the Prime Minister's Office to comment.



The very serious allegations you printed are completely untrue and without merit. I sincerely hope in the future that the Globe and Mail takes its responsibilities to Canadians - and the truth - far more seriously than you have today.















In the interests of correcting your false and misleading story today, I am making this letter public via other members of Canada's media.







Sincerely,





Peter G. MacKay



Minister of Foreign Affairs




http://www.theglobeandmail.com/bnfiles/pages/mackaylettertogreenspon.html

Aw shut up .... head.

[daleo]

1. Harper should write his own letter

McKay has been Harper's fall guy throughout this fiasco. I guess it is karma for stabbing Orchard in the back.

[Spazito]

2. Good, the article must have had impact to have the asshole have

to write a letter. Too bad, Peter, Canadians are smarter than you give them credit for and after the Harper PR debacle in Cyprus, we already know how "concerned" the Prime Minister was/is. Oh, and by the way, Peter, why no mention of the dead and injured Canadians on the Prime Minister's official web page? Are they to be hidden like the dead coming home from Afghanistan in hopes Canadians won't notice? Just to let you know, we NOTICED!

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[glarius]

4. Only ONE THING TO SAY...why the "official" photographer with Harper?

No matter how they try to spin this thing, the fact remains that Harper went there on his "rescue mission" excluding the Canadian press, but being sure to take his own photographer along. WHY? Was he afraid the reporters might hear something from the rescuees or some other source over there that would put the Harper government and especially "his benevolence", Stevie Harper, in a bad light?

If he was truly only concerned about the plight of the people to be rescued, his whole concern would have been simply to get there and get the people. It would never have entered his mind to bring along a personal photographer!...There's where he made his fatal mistake. His giant ego did him in this time!