WATCH: Poilievre OWNS CBC reporter on border security
'You ask a classic CBC question, which is how much money can you spend on a problem,' Poilievre told a CBC reporter. 'That's exactly the question Trudeau has been asking for nine years.'
The Conservatives again confronted government media for asking questions they say further the Liberal agenda.
"The government is coming out with a $1.3 billion plan to address border security. Do you think that's enough to stop Trump's tariffs? What number would you put on it?" asked a CBC reporter Tuesday afternoon.
"Well, you ask a classic CBC question, which is how much money can you spend on a problem," Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre replied. "Well, that's the wrong question."
"That's exactly the question Trudeau has been asking for nine years."
Poilievre notes tens of billions in Liberal spending, on housing affordability and gun confiscation, procured minimal results. "Well, how'd that work?"
"We should not judge a program based on how expensive we can make it," he said. "We should judge it by what it can do."
In the Fall Economic Statement, the Trudeau government allocated $1.3 billion over six years to bolster Canada-U.S. border security amid threats of a tariff war with the United States. The document does not detail how the money will be spent, but Ottawa suggests funding may supply additional drones and helicopters to monitor border activity.
"How many helicopters, how many drones? How many boots on the ground? That's the question," Poilievre said.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we had a prime minister who … stopped tons and tons of fentanyl from travelling back and forth, arrested the terrorists, [and] shut down organized crime," he added.
"We reduce gun crime [that] way … with less tax dollars. That's how our mentality has to change."
Poilievre pledged to run a common-sense Conservative government that way. "Next question."
Over the past year, senior-ranking Liberals have criticized the Tory leader for his testy exchanges with subsidized media.
"Make sure we are holding Pierre Poilievre to account, to ensure he faces the proper scrutiny, because as Canadians get closer and closer to an election he has to answer those tough questions," Government House Leader Karina Gould told reporters on September 16.
"Instead of answering legitimate questions from journalists – that’s his job – what does he do to journalists?" she added. "He attacks them. This is not something done by a responsible leader."
Poilievre has proposed repealing media subsidies and cutting the state broadcaster’s $1.4 billion annual parliamentary grant. The CBC recently asked for another $500 million in funding to keep up with expenses.
No reporter questioned MP Gould on her advice. Her remarks followed a pledge by Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on November 30, 2023, that cabinet was "happy to help" the CBC fend off proposed cutbacks.
Rival broadcasters are cutting staff and programming costs to stay afloat. The CBC will cut at least 346 jobs this year. It promised to "reassess" future cuts after paying its managers millions in bonuses, which one CBC executive defended.
About 450 newspapers have gone out of business since 2009, according to government data.
"Our national broadcaster is affected by a current crisis," said St-Onge. "Their revenues are affected. Their income is affected. This is without even including the impact of continuous attacks by the Conservative Party."
"They are defending themselves from that and I am happy to help them do that. I am proud to do so."
Poilievre has repeatedly accused cabinet of using subsidized media to "leverage news coverage in its favour." Gould rebuked the claim, stating 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 $29,750 per employee. Rebates are to expire after the next election.
Those publishers are not obliged to disclose the value of federal aid they pocket annually.
The Conservative Party since 2021 has proposed to cut the state broadcaster’s annual appropriation. Poilievre last February 12 said any future Conservative cabinet would also cut $595 million in media subsidies.
Poilievre and Catherine Tait, the outgoing CBC CEO, had a heated tit-for-tat in February 2023 after he accused the broadcaster of launching partisan attacks against him. He said Tait is "not even pretending to be unbiased."
"We need a neutral and free media, not a propaganda arm for the Liberal Party," Poilievre said at the time.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
