Harper responds to release of warrants in probe of allegations candidate O'Brien used cash, contacts to get opponent to withdraw
Except the payola to Blogging Tories did not after the election was over, it continued this year.In his new book, Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power, party strategist Tom Flanagan notes the Tories' innovative use of blogs in the 2006 election campaign.
He cites in particular two members of the Blogging Tories, Steve Jank and Stephen Taylor, who write highly partisan blogs on federal politics.
Mr. Flanagan writes that campaign manager Doug Finley "appointed people to monitor the blogosphere and to get out stories that were not quite ready for the mainstream media."
These bloggers "amplify and diversify our message," he wrote.
The Harper government gave a contract for communications consulting on Parliament Hill, worth up to $20,000, to an outspoken Conservative Internet blogger.
Privy Council Office records show Joan Tintor, author of a popular weblog or "blog," in June received the one-year contract for "communications professional services not elsewhere specified."
The government says Ms. Tintor was not paid to write a blog and has so far received only $350 for work performed under the contract.
She was contracted to provide writing and other communications work on an as-needed basis to the office of government House leader Peter Van Loan.
Ms. Tintor did not return an e-mail requesting comment and, when reached by telephone, she said she would have to call back. She did not.
Her strongly opinionated blog focuses on provincial and federal politics and is listed on the web page of the "Blogging Tories," a collection of conservative Internet commentators. Her blog, joantintor.blogspot.com
