Belanger On Hot Seat Over Oyate Media Training

Belanger On Hot Seat Over Oyate Media Training

Thursday, December 07, 2006 at 16:21

Buckley Belanger says it was “perfectly acceptable” for him to take additional media training to deal with the fallout from the Oyate affair.

It was revealed yesterday through documents obtained by The Canadian Press that two media relations firms were paid $4,000 each in September to give the Community Resources minister advice on how to answer questions from the media about his department’s handling of the file.

Belanger says one of the payments was made for his own training, while the other was for training for his staff.

He says many government ministers take additional media training in order to communicate effectively and make sure the “correct messages” are conveyed to the public.

Belanger also says he is often told his answers to reporters are long-winded.

He also wants to emphasize that none of the funds used for the media training were taken from the budget for the Oyate Safe House — a concern raised by the Opposition.