From the bowels of rubbletv?

Urgh.

Our esteemed blogging colleague Montreal Simon wrote this:

There's a strange and disturbing story circulating quietly on the internet. It was forwarded to me by someone I trust.
And it seems to show that the CBC wrote a story claiming that Stephen Harper was thinking about conscripting young Canadians if he is re-elected.

Disturbing, yet plausible since it's been demonstrated that Harper is a mendacious warmonger and profiteer (politically, yes - personally, that's not known) from MASSIVE military weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.

Tyrants have for centuries used mandatory military recruitment aka conscription to legally control young people and to counter high unemployment rates. Some libertarians even defend it as a "pillar of freedom". 

Though it's claimed the dubious item was posted on a CBC website, then withdrawn, there isn't any google cache links to substantiate this.

So, a twitter storm erupted about this purported CBC story.  The only Hill reporter to respond was a *junior journalist* who provided some background with regard to the item, as he sneered at those who try to keep abreast of political issues.

Earlier, Ling had said:

So, an email was sent to the Parliamentary Press Gallery members list.  Fuzzy Wuzzy observed:

Isn't anyone curious about where that purported CBC blogpost — which has now been dismissed as an April 1st prank and hoax — originated?

In addition to the claim that Harper would introduce conscription AFTER he is re-elected, there are some odd details, as fern hill points out:

That made me think: things have not gone well for Levant since the plug was pulled on StunTV.

He has indulged in his usual bullying, slanderous, hissy-fits on Twitter:

That was deleted, along with the nasty little rant he linked to, since it might be actionable.  Levant is intimately familiar with defamation suits.

What if Levant had been asked, as a favour by one of Harper's more devious back-room operatives, say... Jenni Byrne, to plant some vicious little item that, were it used by members of the Opposition parties or CPC critics, could be deployed to discredit any future legitimate information presented?

I can imagine that Levant, desperate for the media attention and brownie points, might jump at such opportunity.  A trifecta!  Smear the CBC for allegedly caving in to political pressure.  Test the public response to the circonscription notion.

And what about that allegedly fictitious, juicy detail about Stevie and Bibi?

But according to two reliable sources — both close friends of Baird — it was during a special closed-door meeting with Baird, Harper and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in January 2014 — on the third day of Harper's four-day trip to Israel — that Harper discussed the possibility of a conscription bill for 18-year-old men and women, based on the Israeli model.

Remember, Levant's father was one of the many schnorrers who went to Israel with Harper.

So, if anyone dared to deploy that particular bit of colourful information about a private Stevie/Bibi convo, Levant might weigh in as official debunker — amply weaponized with confidential Con sources as well as his own propensity to quickly switch from bully tactics to victim mode in order to shriek "anti-semitism".

Sheer speculation.  But to paraphrase Levant (on Lac-Mégantic): "It would be irresponsible not to speculate on these matters."

UPDATE: Montreal Simon articulates why the hoax has a very plausible resonance to it.