There are many appalling aspects to the description of the one-hour TVOntario documentary about Premier Kathleen Wynne. I use the word “description” because Ontarians have not been allowed to see the documentary, entitled Premier: The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne, since the premier and her people won’t sign the release form. The Toronto Star, however, got its hands on a copy, and thanks to a description by Queen’s Park bureau chief

Robert Benzie, we have a good idea why those papers were left unsigned.

Much of the footage was shot around the time of the Sudbury byelection last February, for which Wynne’s deputy chief of staff, Pat Sorbara, is still under OPP investigation. Former Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier alleges Sorbara and another party operative offered him plum positions in the party in exchange for relinquishing the nomination to star candidate and NDP defector Glenn Thibeault. Wynne stood by Sorbara then and now, though footage in the documentary shows cracks in her resolve.

“Media coverage of the byelection debacle clearly troubled Wynne,” Benzie writes in his account of the footage. “She even tells aides she is ‘never speaking’ to one reporter again.”

At this point in the documentary, Wynne’s spouse Jane Rounthewaite chimes in: “He’s a twerp,” she says.

“You’re on mic,” Wynne says.

“I know. I could have said something worse, but I said ‘twerp,’” Rounthwaite responds.

That is probably the juiciest detail in Benzie’s description, but it is certainly not the most nauseating. For that, we go to an interview with Wynne in her home about the Sudbury scandal:

“There are certain people in the press gallery who I just know are out to get me,” she says.

“I mean they just want to — not ‘they’ personally but their organization — just wants to bring me down. They can’t stand what I stand for and they are going to look for any way to make me look bad.”

With all due respect to the premier, if she really thinks members of the press gallery want to make her look bad, she should probably stop making it so damn easy.

This is the premier who campaigned on “truth,” and secretly bought peace with teachers for $468 million before the election. The premier who has consistently downplayed her role in the party’s gas plant, Ornge air ambulance and green energy fiascos, as well as her involvement in the Sudbury scandal, which she still maintains was above-board despite published recordings making clear the intensity of the pressure applied to Olivier. Wynne attacked the opposition Progressive Conservatives during the campaign for saying Ontario needed to close underused schools and get tough with unions, and now says Ontario must close underused schools and get tough with unions. And despite campaigning on a promise of “transparency,” the premier surprised Ontarians when she suddenly proposed a Hydro One fire sale.

Most ironic of all is the view — repeated in the film — that Wynne’s greatest strength is the public’s perception of her “honesty,” even as she blocks voters from glimpsing the documentary. Can we blame those nefarious reporters for that, too?

To be fair, Wynne concedes in her on-camera interview that not everyone in the press gallery is intent on ruining her image:

“There are others who are just more neutral, “ she says, “but there’s nobody who is standing in that press scrum who is there to make us look good or make us look like we’re doing the right thing.”

[np_storybar title=”Read & Debate” link=””] Find Full Comment on Facebook

[/np_storybar]

Indeed, Ms. Wynne is correct: there is no one employed as a member of the press gallery who is tasked with high-fiving the premier’s many manoeuvres. Here, Wynne seems to have confused “journalist” with “party cheerleader,” which is easy to do when you also confuse “deputy chief of staff” with “partisan operative.”

Wynne should keep her fingers crossed that the film never sees public release, but if it does, it won’t be the worst thing in the world; it will just confirm what critical Ontarians have known all along, with a bit of media conspiracy thrown in for good measure. If you’re looking for someone to blame, Ms. Premier, there’s a mirror in the women’s room behind the press gallery.

National Post

Robyn Urback • rurback@nationalpost.com | robynurback