In his farewell address as U.S. president in 1961, Dwight Eisenhower popularized the term military-industrial complex.

Eisenhower, a former general, said the “conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience".

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex,” Eisenhower warned. “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.”

I’m beginning to wonder if it’s time for  Canadians to pay more attention to the constellation of political and media power in this country, which I like to call the  media-political complex.

I had two more reminders today:

”¢  a half-page B.C. Hydro ad on page B10 of the Vancouver Sun featuring a huge picture of Premier Gordon Campbell

”¢  an article on page A4 of the National Post showing Prime Minister Stephen Harper posing with a shovel at the sod-turning ceremony for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg

The B.C. Hydro ad was a straight propaganda piece for the premier, highlighting how he and his wife have been making little changes in their lives to reduce energy use.

The most glaring aspect of the promotion was the enormous photo of Campbell, which took up more than half the ad. It appeared less than five months before a provincial election. Expect the NDP to claim that Campbell is using a Crown corporation to boost his reelection campaign.

B.C. government and Crown corporation ads have poured vast sums of taxpayers’ and B.C. Hydro ratepayers’ money into the pockets of Canwest Global Communications Corp., which owns the Vancouver Sun, the Province, and scores of other papers across the province.

These B.C. Hydro ad glorifying the premier  and other government ads  lauding his so-called war on climate change are never placed in the Georgia Straight.

It’s worth noting that Canwest daily papers endorsed the B.C. Liberals before the last provincial election. This shouldn’t be a surprise, given that Canwest contributed $50,000 to the B.C. Liberals in the months leading up to the 2005 provincial election.

Canwest papers have also given the federal Conservatives stirring editorial endorsements at key moments, such as before  the October 14  election and just  after the federal Liberals and NDP announced they would try to form a coalition government.

Campbell threw some cold water on the idea of a coalition government. In this regard, he either deliberately or unwittingly advanced the wishes of members of the Asper family, who control Canwest.

The Asper siblings—Leonard, David, and Gail--are very happy with Harper for advancing their father Izzy’s dream of building  a Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Last March, the Harper government designated the museum as  a Crown corporation under the Museums Act. The federal government is looking for a new CEO.

According to the report in today’s National Post, Harper and his two children joined the museum’s main proponent, Izzy Asper's  daughter  Gail Asper, for the sod-turning ceremony yesterday.

The  Harper government has  agreed to contribute  $100 million of federal funds to the $265-million project.

In his new book Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada’s Media Mogul, author Peter C. Newman describes how former prime minister Jean Chretien bought into the idea after the senior Asper visited his home.

Chretien agreed to advance $30 million in public funds. According to Izzy, Chretien approved giving the private sector 51-percent control  while various levels of government would hold 49 percent.

Newman reports that after Paul Martin succeeded Chretien as prime minister, the Asper Foundation couldn’t get Ottawa to commit to another $70 million unless the foundation created a huge endowment of $400 million to spin off annual operating funds of $22 million. This threatened the future of the project.

Then Harper rode to the rescue. While in opposition in 2005, Harper met with David Asper, chairman of the National Post, and Gail Asper. Harper decided that the museum would be run by the government, which would pick up the $22-million-per-year operating expenses.

"The star in all of this was Stephen Harper--I make no bones about it," Asper Foundation CEO Moe Levy says in Izzy.

Yes, the media-political complex is alive and well in Canada.

Meanwhile, Canwest MediaWorks, which is owned by Canwest Global Communications Corp., is still pursuing legal action against two Vancouver human-rights activists and media satirists, Gordon Murray and Carel Moiseiwitsch.

In 2007, they produced a fake edition of the Vancouver Sun, which mocked Canwest's coverage of Palestinian human rights.

Last month, Canwest won a judgement in B.C. Supreme Court declaring that Murray cannot invoke the Canadian Charter of Rights guarantee on freedom of expression. The case boils down to whether the defendants violated a Vancouver Sun trademark, and according to Master Alan Donaldson's decision, the defendants cannot  rely on  a charter argument in a trademark dispute.

Murray  recently filed documents in court in an  attempt to appeal the ruling.

I'm not holding my breath that  this Canadian's  efforts to publicize human-rights violations in the occupied territories will get major billing in the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.