Houston right to cut taxpayer handouts to radical publishers, says watchdog
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston eliminated the $700,000-a-year Publishers Assistance Program as part of a series of budget cuts announced in late February.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston for cancelling government subsidies to book publishers and is urging other governments to follow suit.
“Houston made the right call,” said Devin Drover, Atlantic director and general counsel for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll publishing houses that openly describe themselves as politically driven and committed to pushing radical ideology.”
Nova Scotia’s now-cancelled Publishers Assistance Fund previously distributed taxpayer money to private publishing houses. The CTF criticized the program after it provided $135,000 in public funds to Fernwood Publishing in 2024.
Fernwood Publishing, which operates out of Halifax and Winnipeg, describes itself as “politically driven, not profit driven” and says its mandate is to publish “radical analysis” aimed at contributing to “structural change.”
Government records show the publisher also received $306,900 from the federal government between 2020 and 2024, along with $86,250 from Manitoba through that province’s Publisher Marketing Assistance Program.
Some of the titles produced by Fernwood include Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, which explores “alternatives to capitalism.” Other works include I’ll Get Right On It, a poetry collection focused on working life during the climate crisis, and Openings and Closures: Socialist Strategy at a Crossroads, examining contemporary socialist political strategy.
Despite receiving government support, Red Flags currently ranks far down Amazon’s category list for communist and socialist ideologies and has only one review on the Canadian site.
Drover argues that political advocacy publishing should stand on its own merits without taxpayer backing.
“If a publisher wants to promote socialist theory or anti-capitalist activism, it is free to do so,” Drover said. “But it should succeed or fail on its own merits.”
By eliminating the Publishers Assistance Fund, the Nova Scotia government will save taxpayers approximately $700,000 this year.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is now urging Manitoba to take similar action. Manitoba currently spends about $114,000 annually through its Publisher Marketing Assistance Program.
“Manitoba taxpayers should not be paying for handouts to radical book publishers while the government keeps piling up debt,” said Gage Haubrich, Prairie director for the CTF. “Nova Scotia is right to axe these wasteful handouts and Manitoba needs to follow suit.”
Haubrich added that publishers should ultimately survive by producing books readers are willing to buy — not by relying on taxpayer subsidies.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
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COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2026-03-09 19:58:10 -0400Defunding is a MUCH better idea than banning. Let those radical publishing houses market their own books with their own money.
I’m also glad I self-published my books on my own dime, not that of the public. Why should taxpayers be forced to fund stuff they aren’t interested in?
