The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has launched a petition calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the more than $1 billion in funding per year for the CBC and to stop giving $600 million of taxpayers’ money to other media outlets.
“We launched this petition because Canadians should decide which news outlets they prefer and to support them financially if they choose to do so,” said CTF B.C. director Kris Sims in a statement emailed to True North on Thursday. “They should not be forced to pay for it through the government.”
Sims said that she has been in newsrooms most of her life and that if the government is padding journalists’ paycheques, it “gives the perception of bias.” She added that government funding for journalism is “not fair to the taxpayer and it’s not good for the journalist.”
“We are more than $1 trillion in debt,” she said. “We cannot afford to be handing more than $1 billion to the CBC every year and doling out $600 million in taxpayers’ money to other media outlets.”
CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano said that he expects the CTF petition will receive thousands of signatures.
“An independent and free press is a crucial pillar of democracy,” said Terrazzano. “To be independent – in practice and perception – the government must end all media subsidies and defund the CBC.”
The CBC received about $1.4 billion in funding from the Canadian government in 2021, which made up 70% of its revenue. Trudeau also promised during the 2021 election to increase the state broadcaster’s funding by $400 million over the next four years to make it less reliant on advertising.
“CBC/Radio-Canada is a fundamental Canadian institution,” read the 2021 Liberal platform. “Decreasing advertising revenues for all broadcasters are putting Canada’s public broadcaster under increasing pressure.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
It is a well-known truth that those who have control over the news have immense power over the population. Looking back in history, communist empires and Nazi Germany placed a high priority in crushing newspapers that did not disseminate their regime’s propaganda.
With media under the thumb of the government and truth/facts-based reporting compromised, the ability to manipulate the population in favor of a chosen political narrative should not be understated.
Events that do not promote the narrative are simply not covered or are demonized and twisted in favor of the government. Additionally, if a large percentage of the population is not in agreement with the government, the media can use falsehoods to convince those citizens that they are alone (a small fringe minority) and outnumbered in their unacceptable views.
A corrupt media also has vast influence over elections. As one political candidate is showered with praise and false statistics claiming vast popularity, others are smeared or brazenly ignored.
Sadly in Canada, the United States, and many other countries, no imagination is required to picture such media corruption.
Stand Up For The Truth radio host, David Fiorazo, in his book, “Cancelling Christianity,” wrote about this media corruption in his chapter, “Beyond Bias: A One-Party Media/Big Tech Conglomerate.”
“Since most news corporations and social media outlets in America clearly support one political party, then we no longer have a fair, free press,” Fiorazo insisted. “What we find instead is commentary and opinion masquerading as journalism… I wish it were an exaggeration, and I wish there were reasonable solutions, but the left is so driven by liberal ideology they do not even try hiding their bias any longer.”
“More concerning to Bible-believing Christians is the fact the media generally opposes our values,” he explained. “These gatekeepers of information are influencing the public rather than informing them. And this is not just about how they report on politics. The liberal media conditions people to think less of Christianity and minimizes its positive contributions to society.”
“Another concern is the fact that the media and Big Tech are censoring, deleting, flagging, shadow banning, and silencing believers and conservatives without apology,” he wrote. “Does this not sound more like communism?”
