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I’m not going to write the N-word.

No, not that one. The other one — the article of clothing that Stephen Harper and his high-priced campaign enforcer, Lynton Crosby, want me, you and everybody else to keep talking about until October 19.

I have to hand it to these merchants of rage: they’ve succeeded in turning an election that was supposed to be about government corruption, criminal inaction on climate change, child poverty, unemployment — and a so-called “anti-terror” bill that could make us criminals for thinking, saying and writing the wrong things in private or public — into a “debate” about a piece of cloth.

Call it misdirection, deflection, changing the channel, the ‘dog-whistle’ of race and religion — it works. It works particularly well when the people playing the game have no ethical limits of their own, no floor below which they won’t sink — and no shortage of help from the mainstream media.

Yes, the media. Outside of an occasional dissenting editorial or column, the media has been worrying this manufactured controversy like a dog with a bone. They prefer it to covering actual news, because it makes feeding the daily news beast so much easier.

Imagine you’re a reporter or an editor. You have to file a story every day on deadline from the campaign trail. You’ve been conditioned to believe that political journalism is mostly about conflict and heat, winners and losers, knockout blows, 24/7. What are you going to do?

You’re going to do what you always do. You’re going to blow a lot of airtime, energy, money and column inches on “gotcha” guff like unearthing old, embarrassing Facebook and Twitter posts by idiots masquerading as candidates so you can claim a scalp here and there (sorry, “scoop”).

You’re going to studiously avoid all that dull stuff like climate change, poverty, unemployment and C-51 — hey, it’s stale, right? — because it’s really so much more fun to yak about a hot-button issue like Islam and ‘cultural accomodation’ on those TV chat shows. And you’ll justify it by citing a poll that appears to confirm that most Canadians are wound up about the N-word, too — even though the poll in question was commissioned by the Harper Conservatives. In short, you’ll allow yourself to be used like a Wet-Nap.

The Harper Conservatives have crossed and re-crossed lines that were considered untouchable in this country for decades. Race-baiting, Islamophobia, a snitch line for “barbaric cultural practices” — nothing is off-limits, everything is permissible. The Harper Conservatives have crossed and re-crossed lines that were considered untouchable in this country for decades. Race-baiting, Islamophobia, a snitch line for “barbaric cultural practices” — nothing is off-limits, everything is permissible.

And when the N-word begins to lose a little of its lustre, and Harper and his Aussie ventriloquist start casting about for the next poisonous stunt with which to preoccupy the masses, you’ll play along. Lately, the N-word has been replaced with another made-up controversy about stripping convicted terrorists of their citizenship. Never mind that it’s a measure with no appreciable effect in terms of making Canadian safer. Never mind that its a legal instrument based entirely on the convicted person’s country of origin — that it is, in fact, differential sentencing based on race or national origin. It’s hot. It’s sexy. It’s controversial. So, again, you’ll allow yourself to be used.

The natural consequence of these squalid loyalty tests was Winnipeg Conservative candidate Joyce Bateman’s vile (but convincing) impersonation of Joe McCarthy at a recent all-candidates meeting. Over a chorus of boos and cries of “shame” from an appalled audience — who were under the impression they were there to hear a debate about the economy — Bateman read a list, reportedly prepared by the Conservative Party of Canada, of Canadians considered “enemies of Israel”.

Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett, who was moderating the debate, called it a “truly creepy moment.” Walrus Magazine editor Jonathan Kay called it “jaw-drop disgusting.” They’re being charitable.

Andrew Leslie’s name was on that list. Leslie, you may recall, is the decorated retired Canadian lieutenant-general who is running as a Liberal in Ottawa. As a soldier, he took an oath to fight and die to protect the nation from its enemies. But that was before he suggested last year that Israel had “indiscriminately” fired on civilians in Gaza during the recent war — which, apparently, was all it took for Harper to tar him as an ‘enemy’ himself. Leslie is also on record calling for more dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Monstrous, right?

The Harper Conservatives have crossed and re-crossed lines that were considered untouchable in this country for decades. They are using every available tool in their desperate, pathetic attempt to cling to power. Race-baiting, Islamophobia, a snitch line for “barbaric cultural practices” — nothing is off-limits, everything is permissible.

And when this election is over, when we look around at the wasteland that has been made of all of our careful political and cultural compromises, at the damage done to the nation’s fabric by a campaign strategy that seeks to divide one Canadian from another by treating some as enemies, aliens, untouchables — because of what they say, or believe, or wear — will the media own up to the part it played?

Will it accept its share of the shame — or simply move on to the next phoney crisis?

P.S.: As regular readers of my column know, I recently wrote about the long, humiliating struggle that three-time Nobel Prize-nominee Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish and his family have endured to secure Canadian citizenship. I am pleased to report that three days after the column appeared, Dr. Abuelaish and his adult children received a letter from Citizenship and Immigration Canada informing them that their citizenship tests — the last bureaucratic hurdle before receiving citizenship — have finally been scheduled for October 16 in Toronto.

Andrew Mitrovica is a writer and journalism instructor. For much of his career, Andrew was an investigative reporter for a variety of news organizations and publications including the CBC’s fifth estate, CTV’s W5, CTV National News — where he was the network’s chief investigative producer — the Walrus magazine and the Globe and Mail, where he was a member of the newspaper’s investigative unit. During the course of his 23-year career, Andrew has won numerous national and international awards for his investigative work.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.