Independent media outlet Blacklock’s Reporter has submitted recommendations demanding full transparency and accountability for the federal government’s media subsidies ahead of the House of Commons Heritage Committee’s study on the “State of the Journalism and Media Sectors.”

The subsidy program originally began as temporary aid, but has since ballooned into a permanent, shadowy slush fund draining taxpayer dollars with zero oversight.

“Enough’s enough,” Blacklock’s posted on social media, highlighting how what was sold to Canadians as short-term help for struggling news outlets in 2019 has morphed into an endless handout for 141 news corporations, complete with secrecy that shields insiders from scrutiny.

Here's our submission to the Commons heritage committee's study of journalism in 2026. Enough's enough.
UNLOCKED  [one-minute read]https://t.co/431TjGJm2V #cdnpoli @CdnHeritage pic.twitter.com/dlX1aWysim

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) March 9, 2026

Blacklock’s first recommendation is to mandate full disclosure of subsidies to named beneficiaries. “News subsidies are paid without restrictions on use of aid,” they noted, pointing out the glaring double standard: Taxpayers who receive modest $2,500 Canada Student Loans get proactive disclosure of recipients, yet newsrooms pocketing up to $29,750 per employee in payroll rebates operate in total obscurity.

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Lack of transparency has allowed for egregious abuses to proliferate, such as the insolvent SaltWire Network of Halifax, which pocketed $5,174,847 in aid only to use it for paying delinquent taxes while laying off employees.

Similarly, Discourse Community Publishing in British Columbia hired foreign workers with subsidy dollars before being slapped with a $10,000 fine for breaching federal labour laws. And in a stunning irony, the Winnipeg Free Press – after receiving the very aid meant to save it – shuttered its 149-year-old Parliament Hill bureau.

Blacklock’s second recommendation cuts to the heart of the issue: Audit and report on how recipients are actually using the funding.

Without strings attached, these subsidies are no longer saving journalism, but rather subsidizing cronyism and propping up failing operations at the expense of fair competition.

It was in 2019 that Parliament amended the Income Tax Act to provide what was promised as “temporary and transitional” payroll subsidies for daily news media. Bob Cox, then-chair of News Media Canada, testified before the Commons Finance Committee that the program needed a strict deadline. “I see this as a transitional program and temporary help,” Cox said. “I don’t like the idea of a long-term subsidy for newspapers that becomes permanent.” He even warned that endless aid would just keep failing papers afloat indefinitely.

CBC hands out record-high pay raises of $38 million last year.

There are now 1,831 CBC staffers taking a six-figure salary. That's a 318% increase since 2015.

End the gravy train. Defund the CBC! pic.twitter.com/Y5O87TKcJJ

— Franco Terrazzano (@franco_nomics) July 22, 2025

Fast-forward to 2026, and that five-year “bridge” has become a never-ending taxpayer trough. Blacklock’s exposed how a News Media Canada judges’ panel voted themselves 100% payroll subsidies under the Local Journalism Initiative, prompting the group to hide future recipients’ names. When an MP demanded the list, the Department flat-out refused.

Blacklock’s echoes a growing chorus of Canadians demanding an end to taxpayer subsidies, letting fair competition decide who thrives in the media landscape.