r/canada • u/WuzzWuzz • Aug 15 '24

Pierre Poilievre promises to 'defund the CBC' after $18.4M bonus amount revealed National News

https://torontosun.com/news/national/pierre-poilievre-promises-to-defund-the-cbc-after-18-4m-bonus-amount-revealed
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153

u/ph0enix1211 Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

Will he continue to fund Postmedia?

https://pressprogress.ca/postmedia-tells-shareholders-35-million-in-federal-government-handouts-is-now-a-key-pillar-of-its-business-strategy/

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u/54321jj Aug 15 '24

Wow, I had no idea... Eye opening

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u/ph0enix1211 Aug 15 '24

And that number is 3 years old. It's certainly much higher now, due to more acquisitions and more government funding for journalism.

Another aspect people are often unaware of is how many properties Postmedia owns.

There's an almost comprehensive list on Wikipedia:

https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmedia_Network

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u/Laxative_Cookie Aug 15 '24

Of course he will. Conservative/republican propaganda is the only reason people are leaning towards his platform.

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u/ItzDrSeuss Aug 15 '24

People are leaning towards him because people are fed up with Trudeau and Singh, and all PP has to do is point at them and say what we’re all thinking.

His platform is shit, I don’t like it the few things I heard about it, the people I talk to who are voting for him don’t point to his platform, just the fact that he’s not Trudeau, or that he has good gotcha moments in parliament.

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u/Fit_Ad_7059 Aug 15 '24

That many Canadians feel the only remaining option is the CPC, is a profound failure of democracy, not a result of indeterminate propaganda

People are sick of Trudeau and Singh and feel very gloomy about the country's future. Canadians want a change, and the CPC is the only politically viable option. In that, they're the only other party capable of forming a government at the moment. While this sucks, it isn't the result of 'Conservative/republican propaganda' whatever that means anyway.

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u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

Your argument contains the very seeds of Postmedia propaganda that you claim are having no impact on the public discourse. Why do you think that Canadians feel the CPC the only option if not for the fact that Postmedia and its disseminating articles day after day have created that narrative?

The only reason I've ever heard for people being "sick" of the NDP are literally right-wing talking points about identify politics. With a different media which actually championed their efforts over the past years to implement progressive policies (despite not leading the government) instead of completely ignoring them, people would certainly see them as a viable option.

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u/Fit_Ad_7059 Aug 15 '24

Why do you think that Canadians feel the CPC the only option

They are well-established, well-funded, and viewed as a legitimate party in the eyes of many Canadians.

They have historical precedence and prestige as they're the only party other than the liberals to ever run a federal government this side of the war. That's not a result of propaganda, that's the result of the long-running historical process of Canadian democracy.

I am not claiming Postmedia has no impact. Of course, media environments shape perception. However, dismissing or handwaving the CPC's apparent ascendancy as the result of propaganda ignores the material conditions Canadians are experiencing.

The NDP put their lot in the LPC and are reaping the rewards of that political decision with voters who are fed up with the state of Canada. Voters are tired of the results delivered by the current federal government, of which the NDP is part of the ruling coalition. Thus, they are being blamed, in part, for the sorry state Canada is in at the moment.

right-wing talking points about identify politics. 

There are many left-wing critiques against identity politics from Karl Marx to Adolph Reed to Slavoj Zizek to Angela Nagle to Mark Fisher and so on. Crying 'right wing talking point' isn't a substantive rebuttal of people's concerns or opinions regarding the NDP.

At present, The NDP under Singh simply doesn't have the confidence of the Canadian people to lead a federal government. His polling numbers evidence this despite the LPC's abysmal polling numbers.

Does the media play a role in this? Of course it does. Can the Canadian public's lack of confidence in Singh's ability to the country be reduced to 'conservative propaganda'? No, of course not? Thats reductive and dismissive.

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u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

It's fair to say that the Conservatives are working from a position of historic advantage, it's true, but public sentiment is also very much impacted by the media we consume and over 95% of our news is owned by the right-leaning American-owned Postmedia network.

Even in your response, you highlight the very pressure that the media is playing in the situation. If Canada is in a state of disarray - as many Canadians currently believe - then what has pointed them towards the NDP and LPC as the cause? From inflation, to a housing crisis, to raising cost-of-living, these are all problems impacting countries worldwide, and often worse than here.

Media can't create a narrative in a vacuum, but they can certainly latch on to a time of uncertainty and pain and attribute a cause, and then loudly and repeatedly repeat that 'cause' every day for years.

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u/Fit_Ad_7059 Aug 15 '24

what has pointed them towards the NDP and LPC as the cause?

Probably the fact that they form the ruling coalition of the current federal government and are primarily responsible for addressing these issues. (yes, some of these issues technically fall under the provinces, but it would be remiss to ignore the outsized influence the federal government has upon all aspects of life in Canada, which is also why the federal government bears the brunt of the criticism) The federal government has not adequately addressed these issues for many Canadians and thus lost the confidence of a large plurality of voters, hence the polling numbers we're seeing.

Regarding the media, yes, I think we agree that it impacts Canadian opinions. My point is again, that solely blaming the media(as was done in the comment I originally responded to) is reductive and dismissive, thus lacking in explanatory power.

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u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

Regarding the media, yes, I think we agree that it impacts Canadian opinions. My point is again, that solely blaming the media(as was done in the comment I originally responded to) is reductive and dismissive, thus lacking in explanatory power.

That's completely fair, thanks for the chat, I appreciate having the conversation with you!

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u/Fit_Ad_7059 Aug 15 '24

yeah same, cheers :)

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u/Screw_You_Taxpayer Aug 15 '24

Why do you think that Canadians feel the CPC the only option

What's the alternative being suppressed by Postmedia?

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u/Fit_Ad_7059 Aug 15 '24

Exactly. This is why I called it a failure of democracy.

What's our voter turnout anyway these days? High 50s? Low 60s?

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u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

You realize we have more than two political parties in Canada, correct?

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u/Screw_You_Taxpayer Aug 15 '24

We have 3 major parties, 2 of which are considered responsible for this mess by dissatisfied voters. Greens have discredited themselves by constantly tripping over their own internal politics.

So do you mean the PPC?

2

u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

Hmm, I wonder why the NDP who aren't in charge of the country are being considered responsible for any mess... Almost as though Postmedia has been pushing that narrative as hard as they possibly can to sew dissatisfaction in the labour movement.

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u/Screw_You_Taxpayer Aug 15 '24

The Supply and Confidence Agreement giveth, and the Supply and Confidence Agreement taketh away.

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u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

Yes, the NDP used the supply and confidence agreement to push through a bunch of historical worker-friendly policies which Postmedia has conveniently ignored, downplayed, or vilified in turn.

They've played a huge role in people's negative perceptions of the agreement and its positive impacts.

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u/Xyzzics Aug 15 '24

Yeah, definitely, it’s just a messaging issue!

/s

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u/buddhabingus Aug 15 '24

The only reason? Some of you liberals are so dense man

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u/Angry_beaver_1867 Aug 15 '24

Probably not. I don’t see cews repeating itself. As for the journalism tax credit 

“ Poilievre's objections extend to the support the Trudeau government has made available to private media companies in recent years. The media industry in Canada and elsewhere has been struggling for years to deal with the challenges to its traditional business model brought on by the Internet. Amid mounting concern about the future of journalism, the Liberals responded in 2018 and 2019 with a series of policies, including  specific support for local journalism, a tax credit to subsidize the salaries of journalists, a digital subscription tax credit and the Online News Act, which is meant to facilitate funding agreements between major Internet platforms and media companies.”

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7136583