Liberal MP says criticizing media is ‘an attack on Canada’

Alex Dhaliwal
  |   September 26, 2024

Criticism of the media is an attack on Canada, according to Government House Leader Karina Gould. She continued her attacks Wednesday against Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre for not supporting subsidized media.

“If the Leader of the Opposition really respected Canadians in this country he wouldn’t attack people who are asking questions on behalf of Canadians,” Gould told the Commons. 

“Generations of Canadians have built this country into what it is, and it is the greatest country in the world,” she continued. “We need to ensure we have a government that believes in this country, believes in Canadians.”

The MPs comments followed an on-air apology by CTV National News for deceptively editing comments by Poilievre, reported Blacklock’s Reporter. The broadcaster called it “a misunderstanding during the editing process.”

Poilievre had told reporters: “It’s time to put forward a motion for a carbon tax election," but CTV quoted him as saying: “we need to put forward a motion” to eliminate dental care subsidies.

The CTV retraction was not the first acknowledgement of inaccurate coverage of the Tory leader by a television network. 

CBC News on January 15 pulled an inaccurate “fact check” that misrepresented Poilievre’s housing policy. “CBC’s video has been edited to remove inaccurate mortgage comparisons and clarify information,” management said at the time.

Since 2021, the Conservative Party has proposed to cut the CBC’s annual appropriation. On February 12, Poilievre said any future Conservative cabinet would also cut $595 million in media subsidies.

“As Canadians get closer and closer to an election he has to answer those tough questions,” MP Gould told reporters last Monday. Her remarks followed a colleague’s comment that cabinet was “happy to help” CBC-TV counter Conservative criticism.

She urged subsidized reporters to “hold Pierre Poilievre to account" just days earlier.

The Tory leader has repeatedly criticized subsidized media as a cabinet scheme to “leverage news coverage in its favour.” Those publishers are not obliged to disclose the value of federal aid they pocket annually.

In a testy exchange with a reporter last April 13, the Tory MP did not hold back on questioning their ability to report impartially on the feds. 

“Our Party does not support tax dollars for media outlets,”  he said during a media scrum. “We wind up with biased media … who come here and articulate the Prime Minister’s Office talking points rather than delivering real news to the Canadian people.”

“We need a neutral and free media — not a propaganda arm for the Liberal Party.”

Meanwhile, MP Gould has defended subsidized media, claiming access to “good quality information” is a necessity during a time of “incredible disinformation.” 

Parliament in 2019 amended the Income Tax Act to pay rebates of up to $13,750 per employee of cabinet-approved newsrooms. Payroll rebates this past April 1 were doubled to a maximum of $29,750 per employee. Rebates are to expire after the next election.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge had earlier called Poilievre “thin-skinned” for his criticism of select media. “It's our job to answer questions from journalists; we're accountable to the Canadian population,” she said.

“They are defending themselves from that and I am happy to help them do that. I am proud to do so.”

Alex Dhaliwal

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