By Didi Rankovic – Reclaim The Net
Both Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – who last month also became the leader of the ruling Liberals – and opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh are backing plans to sink more money into the public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada.
The politicians made the pledges as they campaign for Canada’s general election, to be held in late April. The reasons for the policy are “the rise of misinformation,” and “foreign interference” – but also, fending off the perceived “assaults” on the country’s sovereignty coming from the Trump administration.
Carney wants to give CBC $150 million from federal funds as an initial sum to help the broadcaster meet its “renewed mission.” He spoke about making sure CBC does not become “subject to the whims of a small group of people led by ideology” – to then assert that the media space is currently “a sea of misinformation and disinformation.”
Critics would say that argument has at this point been seriously overused “by a small group of people led by ideology” hiding behind it while attempting to ensure control over public discourse, particularly via large legacy media outlets.
But Carney and Singh are still pushing the narrative about dramatic dangers from allegedly unprecedented levels of “disinformation,” with Singh claiming this is “endangering democracy.” CBC’s funding should also be increased “significantly” to deal with what is now being framed as “Trump’s attacks on Canadian sovereignty.”
The leader of the opposition and of the Conservatives, Pierre Poilievre, disagrees with this approach, arguing that Canada’s authorities “can’t go on spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.”
Such policies lead to the economy’s further descent into inflation, Poilievre suggested, and said that if given the opportunity to serve as prime minister, he would focus on “cutting waste, bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid and other unnecessary expenses to reduce taxes, debt, and inflation.”
In response to this, Carney labeled the Conservative leader as somebody who is also “attacking Canada’s institutions,” supposedly joining President Trump in this.
Poilievre has previously said that rather than receiving more money, the CBC should be defunded, but in a way that does not affect Radio-Canada (the French language public service).
That appears to be in line with the Liberal leader’s own statements about the need to “stay informed and tell our own stories in our own languages” – however, coming out of Poilievre’s mouth, the argument prompted Carney to accuse him of attempting to “split the baby,” and also, “attack Canada’s institutions” – à la Trump.