TORONTO – In a speech to the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada’s World Freedom of the Press Exhibition, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff took Prime Minister Stephen Harper to task for restricting press freedom and dividing Canada’s cultural communities – while calling on journalists to promote unity within their communities.

“My professional duty is to never to divide Canadians for political gain.” said Mr. Ignatieff. “The Conservatives are experts at this. They pick issues that polarize Canadians, that polarize communities, that turn people against one another, and they exploit those divisions to win votes.”

Mr. Ignatieff referred to comments made by Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler at the recent Canada at 150 conference in Montreal, where he warned that using foreign conflicts for domestic political advantage is a dangerous game that risks losing our soul.

“My number one rule in politics is to address everyone as a Canadian first, last and always,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “We will say the same thing to all Canadians, whether in a church basement in Rimouski, or in a mandir in Brampton, a gurdwara in Vancouver, a mosque in Toronto, or a synagogue in Winnipeg.”

Mr. Ignatieff also called on the journalists present to make a similar commitment to never polarize our communities and put our peaceful diversity at risk, in the wake of recent threats against Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh.

“You and I share an obligation to denounce political violence and extremism wherever we find it,” Mr. Ignatieff said to the journalists in attendance. “This is the responsibility that comes with political freedom and freedom of the press.”

Mr. Ignatieff also took Prime Minister Stephen Harper to task for saying one year ago, to the same media council, that his government does not “attempt to intimidate those with whom it disagrees” while encouraging journalists to “shine light into dark corners and to insist on the process of holding governments accountable.

“A few months later, he shut down Parliament,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “His government has turned Access to Information into Denial of Information to the press and public alike. He fought disclosure of documents relating to the Afghan detainee scandal until the Speaker ruled against him. He leads the most secretive government in Canadian history.

“Last Monday, on World Press Freedom Day, a Conservative senator told groups that work for the rights of women in the poorest countries in the world to just ‘shut up’ – that if they dare oppose the Conservative Party, they will be silenced. The next day, 11 groups lost their funding.

“Some of our leaders say one thing about openness and transparency in opposition and another in power. I am not one of those leaders,” concluded Mr. Ignatieff.