Gala approval process proves the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression are 'free' in name only…

A not-so-funny thing happened to me enroute to a gala staged by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression the other night: not only could I not get in, but none of those “free expression” folk would even return my emails.

I initially thought this to be very odd indeed. After all, I’m a Canadian. I’m a journalist. I adore free expression. Sounds like I’d be right at home at a CJFE gala in which courageous journalists would be lauded and given awards. So why was I being treated as if I were the proverbial skunk to the garden party?

It was downright baffling… until, that is, I noticed that the CJFE now outsources its communications to another entity altogether. And that would be… the federal government!?

I couldn’t believe it either. But when we received the press release regarding the CJFE’s shindig at Toronto’s swank Ritz-Carlton, the paperwork stated individuals had to contact Adrienne Vaupshas for approval.

Who’s that, you say? Well, Adrienne just happens to be – wait for it – the Press Secretary for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, a.k.a. Chrystia Freeland.

That’s right. It would appear that the trained seals in the mainstream media and their government overlords don’t even bother to hide their gasp-inducing relationship anymore. Ministry of Truth meets Ministry of Plenty. I mean, wow, get a room already. Good thing that Wednesday’s event was taking place at the Ritz-Carlton, where rooms start at $800/night, by the way. Not to worry – just put it on the taxpayer tab…

At this point, I’d like to recite the mission statement of the CJFE: “Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of press freedom throughout the world.”

Did you catch that part about “defending the rights of journalists.” If only! What was the CJFE’s response when I was illegally beaten and detained by government goons for the crime of practicing journalism on a public sidewalk? Crickets...

And what about the very first part of this organization’s mission statement: Again, “Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is a Canadian non-governmental organization.”

Non-governmental? Are you kidding me? CJFE members are now reliant on big-buck handouts from the government. And for those who want to attend the CJFE gala, one must reach out to a press secretary who represents the Deputy Prime Minister?

Aside from Prime Minister Blackface McGroper himself, it doesn’t get any more senior than the deputy PM. And what a conflict of interest! How can journalists be trusted to fairly cover the government when the government is cutting them cheques? But that’s what has happened in Canada in recent years: the media watchdogs have become government lapdogs.

Clearly, the CJFE mission statement is way past its best-before date. And clearly the interbred relationship between the federal government and the mainstream media continues to get all the more incestuous with every passing month. Little wonder the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression outsources its communications directly to a federal government flack. They’re merely cutting out the middleman.

Let’s face it: mainstream media journalists in Canada today are free in name only. They are being taken care of quite nicely by a prime ministerial sugar daddy; the unspoken quid pro quo being that the Liberal Party of Canada gets to control the narrative. It’s not really journalism, but at least it's a steady paycheque for those scribes who remain employed in what is now a sunset industry.