Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who electioneered by promising Canadians a more "open" government, took two measures last month aimed at establishing a more "closed" one – closed, that is, to the media. In so doing, he appeared to have declared war on the parliamentary press gallery. First, he decreed that all public communications from his Cabinet ministers – everything from speeches, to press releases, to policy statements, to letters to the editor – must have the prior approval of the Prime Minister's Office. Second, he ruled that the meetings of his Cabinet will no longer be announced in advance, and...