The World Sikh Organization has launched a lawsuit against Canada's national broadcaster, a reporter and Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, alleging that a CBC documentary examining the issue of Sikh extremism has damaged the community's reputation.
The Sikh organization's lawyer, James Morton, said the lawsuit alleges defamation, libel and slander, and seeks $110-million in damages.
Gian Singh Sandhu of the group's Canadian chapter alleged the documentary linked the WSO to terrorism and contained "many false statements."
A description of the documentary on the CBC's website says the WSO does not advocate violence, but does accuse some of its supporters of having "praised and defended those who use violence in the separatist cause."
Sandhu said the CBC's attempt to link the WSO to violence and extremism is "dishonest and highly offensive."
Full story here.
cbcexposed is all about exposing the waste of the CBC ... over 1 billion dollars a year of taxpayer money funds the cbc and a lot of that taxpayer money is wasted.
Senators want answers about complaints against CBC ...
Information commissioner Suzanne Legault's latest annual report shows the CBC received almost 900 complaints from 2007 to 2010, by far the most levied against any federal institution subject to the Access to Information Act.
Legault said complaints skyrocketed by 80% after some 70 agencies were added to federal disclosure rules in 2007, but most were directed at Canada's public broadcaster for failing to make information available.
More than 85% of the grievances investigated against the CBC were found to have merit, according to figures in Legault's report.
Conservative Sen. Mike Duffy, a former broadcaster with CTV and CBC, wanted to know whether the Crown corporation was refusing to disclose the salaries of its journalists.
P.E.I. Liberal Sen. Percy Downe told Legault he's concerned information is being held up by central government agencies.
Read the full story here.
Legault said complaints skyrocketed by 80% after some 70 agencies were added to federal disclosure rules in 2007, but most were directed at Canada's public broadcaster for failing to make information available.
More than 85% of the grievances investigated against the CBC were found to have merit, according to figures in Legault's report.
Conservative Sen. Mike Duffy, a former broadcaster with CTV and CBC, wanted to know whether the Crown corporation was refusing to disclose the salaries of its journalists.
P.E.I. Liberal Sen. Percy Downe told Legault he's concerned information is being held up by central government agencies.
Read the full story here.
CBC Refuses to Disclose David Suzuki’s Business Expenses ...
The CBC has refused – as usual – to disclose the expenses of eco-advocacy tycoon David Suzuki. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) filed an Access to Information (ATI) request for the business expenses of Dr. Suzuki with the intention of examining his billing taxpayers for entertainment, hospitality, receptions and travel. By refusing to disclose even a single spending item in its 83 pages of redacted documents, the CBC has shielded him from public accountability.
More importantly than accountability for Dr. Suzuki’s expenses on the public dime is the continued refusal of the CBC to disclose information that the public has a right to.
In November of last year, the CBC lost its final court battle to keep itself effectively exempt from the Access to Information Act. After that decisive and unanimous ruling, the CBC vowed to respect the Act and to allow the Information Commissioner to be the arbiter in cases of dispute (of which the CTF has a few).
Unfortunately, it seems that while the CBC has buckled at least somewhat after its defeat in the Federal Court of Appeal, it has not yet embraced the ruling culturally.
The CTF has filed an appeal with the Information Commissioner to force the CBC to disclose the documents.
Read the full story here.
More importantly than accountability for Dr. Suzuki’s expenses on the public dime is the continued refusal of the CBC to disclose information that the public has a right to.
In November of last year, the CBC lost its final court battle to keep itself effectively exempt from the Access to Information Act. After that decisive and unanimous ruling, the CBC vowed to respect the Act and to allow the Information Commissioner to be the arbiter in cases of dispute (of which the CTF has a few).
Unfortunately, it seems that while the CBC has buckled at least somewhat after its defeat in the Federal Court of Appeal, it has not yet embraced the ruling culturally.
The CTF has filed an appeal with the Information Commissioner to force the CBC to disclose the documents.
Read the full story here.
Ottawa MD makes legal history with huge libel award against CBC ...
Dr. Frans Leenen thought his professional reputation had been left in tatters when the CBC broadcast a public affairs program on the use of calcium-channel blockers in 1996. Four years later, the CBC knows exactly how he felt.
In a blistering judgement released Apr. 20, Mr. Justice J.D. Cunningham of the Ontario Superior Court found the fifth estate guilty of acting with malice against the Ottawa hypertension specialist. He ordered the CBC to pay Leenen $950 000 in general, aggravated and punitive damages, plus his legal costs. Richard Dearden, one of the Ottawa lawyers who has represented Leenen since his suit was launched in 1996, says those costs will total more than $1 million.
Read the full story here.
In a blistering judgement released Apr. 20, Mr. Justice J.D. Cunningham of the Ontario Superior Court found the fifth estate guilty of acting with malice against the Ottawa hypertension specialist. He ordered the CBC to pay Leenen $950 000 in general, aggravated and punitive damages, plus his legal costs. Richard Dearden, one of the Ottawa lawyers who has represented Leenen since his suit was launched in 1996, says those costs will total more than $1 million.
Read the full story here.
No accountability, just dead air ...
Last Friday, CBC ombudsman Pierre Tourangeau severely reprimanded the Crown corporation and Ginette Lamarche, Radio-Canada’s Middle East correspondent, for their biased reports on Israel.
Of five complaints tabled by Honest Reporting Canada, Tourangeau concluded that Lamarche’s reports violated Radio-Canada’s standards for accuracy, balance and impartiality.
He even stated there was an “appearance of bias” and pushed his mandate as ombudsman to its limit by inviting the management to an in-depth discussion with Lamarche on her arguments and findings.
Unfortunately, it was not Lamarche’s first misstep in this regard.
CBC has been accused for years of dishonest reporting on Israeli news and it has never cleared the air.
Taxpayers should expect much more from the state broadcaster that receives more than $1.1 billion annually from their wallets.
Read the full story here.
Of five complaints tabled by Honest Reporting Canada, Tourangeau concluded that Lamarche’s reports violated Radio-Canada’s standards for accuracy, balance and impartiality.
He even stated there was an “appearance of bias” and pushed his mandate as ombudsman to its limit by inviting the management to an in-depth discussion with Lamarche on her arguments and findings.
Unfortunately, it was not Lamarche’s first misstep in this regard.
CBC has been accused for years of dishonest reporting on Israeli news and it has never cleared the air.
Taxpayers should expect much more from the state broadcaster that receives more than $1.1 billion annually from their wallets.
Read the full story here.
Reply from J. Serge Sasseville to Anne Lagacé Dowson re: Quebecor Media ...
In a recent column (“Public-Interest broadcasting”), Anne Lagacé Dowson cast aspersions on Quebecor Media for what she calls its “attacks” on CBC/Radio-Canada. Unfortunately, to do so, Ms. Lagacé Dowson chose to rely on hearsay and rumours rather than on facts that would have been readily available to her had she checked with Quebecor or had a quick look at our website.
As a former CBC Radio host and frequent CBC and Radio-Canada contributor (two facts she somehow failed to mention), we can forgive Ms. Lagacé Dowson for having a soft spot for the state broadcaster. We do however believe that Hour readers would be best served if Ms. Lagacé Dowson relied on facts rather than simply rehash CBC’s attack propaganda to get her point across.
Read the full letter here.
As a former CBC Radio host and frequent CBC and Radio-Canada contributor (two facts she somehow failed to mention), we can forgive Ms. Lagacé Dowson for having a soft spot for the state broadcaster. We do however believe that Hour readers would be best served if Ms. Lagacé Dowson relied on facts rather than simply rehash CBC’s attack propaganda to get her point across.
Read the full letter here.
Feds won’t reveal Mansbridge and Stroumboulopoulos’ CBC salaries
In November, through a House of Commons order paper, Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber requested salary and expense details for chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, host George Stroumboulopoulos, president Hubert T. Lacroix and host Rick Mercer. Rathgeber also asked for specifics on foreign bureau expenses and wanted to know how many CBC employees earned more than $100,000 each year.
The answer: There are about 730 employees now earning more than six figures.
Citing the federal Privacy Act, Moore did not disclose salary or expense details for Mansbridge and Stroumboulopoulos. However, Lacroix is compensated at a rated fixed in accordance with the Broadcasting Act. This means that in 2011, Lacroix was in a salary bracket between $358,400 and $421,600.
Moore wrote the CBC does not provide Mansbridge or Stroumboulopoulos with a vehicle. But Lacroix’s company car (a 2011 Ford Taurus) had an annual operating cost of about $10,900.
With the federal government expected to cut annual spending, some Conservative MPs believe it’s time to reduce or end public funding for the CBC. The public broadcaster receives about $1.1 billion from the government each year.
Read the full story here.
The answer: There are about 730 employees now earning more than six figures.
Citing the federal Privacy Act, Moore did not disclose salary or expense details for Mansbridge and Stroumboulopoulos. However, Lacroix is compensated at a rated fixed in accordance with the Broadcasting Act. This means that in 2011, Lacroix was in a salary bracket between $358,400 and $421,600.
Moore wrote the CBC does not provide Mansbridge or Stroumboulopoulos with a vehicle. But Lacroix’s company car (a 2011 Ford Taurus) had an annual operating cost of about $10,900.
With the federal government expected to cut annual spending, some Conservative MPs believe it’s time to reduce or end public funding for the CBC. The public broadcaster receives about $1.1 billion from the government each year.
Read the full story here.
Quebecor demands retraction and apology from CBC ...
Quebecor Media Inc. is stepping up its fight against the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Montreal-based multimedia and broadcasting company headed by Pierre-Karl Péladeau issued a formal letter of notice Friday demanding the public broadcaster immediately remove from its website a text about Quebecor that it – Quebecor – claims is defamatory, deliberately misleading and malicious.
Quebecor, through its TVA private television network, is a major competitor of the CBC and takes issue with the $1-billion-a-year the public broadcaster gets in taxpayer funding.
Mr. Peladeau told the committee the access requests have been rebuffed with a series of delays, exorbitant research-fee demands, complaints and a dearth of information on how the CBC manages public funds.
Read the full story here.
The Montreal-based multimedia and broadcasting company headed by Pierre-Karl Péladeau issued a formal letter of notice Friday demanding the public broadcaster immediately remove from its website a text about Quebecor that it – Quebecor – claims is defamatory, deliberately misleading and malicious.
Quebecor, through its TVA private television network, is a major competitor of the CBC and takes issue with the $1-billion-a-year the public broadcaster gets in taxpayer funding.
Mr. Peladeau told the committee the access requests have been rebuffed with a series of delays, exorbitant research-fee demands, complaints and a dearth of information on how the CBC manages public funds.
Read the full story here.
Real people discussing the CBC ...
UNLESS otherwise noted, these submissions are to be considered unedited. The opinions expressed herein are those of the writers and not of The London Free Press.
- You are probably aware by now that the CBC is in the porn business. This is assinine. I urge you to have the CBC cease broadcasting porn. Also, this is good time to reduce funding to the CBC. Thanks for your time.
- It was with some surprise that I read our federal government has decided to continue subsidizing the CBC to the tune of $1.1 billion each year at least until 2015. This in a time of supposedly sharp cutbacks in an effort to get to a balanced budget.
- The CBC's mandate was to provide Canadian radio and television to all Canadians. It has NEVER met this mandate! I didn't get to see a CBC channel until 1974 when I moved to London. Did I move from some remote corner of the country?
CBC upset by its own programming ...
CBC president Hubert Lacroix is trying to suck and blow at the same time.
Lacroix is blasting Sun News Network, and threatening legal action, for daring to show a satirical video clip earlier this month.
The video in question juxtaposed CBC executive vice-president Kirstine Stewart talking about the wonders of CBC next to a pornographic program the state broadcaster used tax dollars to buy.
This video showed simply that while CBC is willing to claim high moral ground on all the wonderful things that it can do with taxpayer's money, they are also willing to show scenes of orgies and explicit sex in a show with no Canadian connection nor apparent artistic value.
So now CBC is threatening to sue.
They won't pull the program. No, they defend it as popular and a good value for taxpayers.
Read the full story here.
Lacroix is blasting Sun News Network, and threatening legal action, for daring to show a satirical video clip earlier this month.
The video in question juxtaposed CBC executive vice-president Kirstine Stewart talking about the wonders of CBC next to a pornographic program the state broadcaster used tax dollars to buy.
This video showed simply that while CBC is willing to claim high moral ground on all the wonderful things that it can do with taxpayer's money, they are also willing to show scenes of orgies and explicit sex in a show with no Canadian connection nor apparent artistic value.
So now CBC is threatening to sue.
They won't pull the program. No, they defend it as popular and a good value for taxpayers.
Read the full story here.
Ombudsman Rebukes CBC Radio-Canada’s Mideast Reporting ...
In a pointed rebuke of our public broadcaster CBC Radio-Canada and its Mideast correspondent Ginette Lamarche’s recent reporting on Israel, Radio-Canada’s Ombudsman, Pierre Tourangeau, this week upheld a series of five complaints filed by HonestReporting Canada about the network’s Mideast coverage.
Read the full story here.
Read the full story here.
Eric Margolis Immorally Equates Syrian Brutality with Israeli Humanitarianism ...
You’ve got to be pretty out there to equate Syria’s ongoing ruthless massacre of 6,000 of its own citizens, to the Israeli government’s responsibility to protect its populace from those who seek to exterminate them.
Leave it to Eric Margolis to be morally blinded by Syria’s lethal brutality and Israel’s painstaking and unprecedented efforts to avoid civilian casualties when targeting terrorists.
On the February 6 radio broadcast of the John Oakley Show on AM 640, Margolis equated Israel, which ranks as the most moral and ethical military in the world, to the Syrian regime, run by the “butcher” Basher Assad. A government that slaughters its own people, terrorizes its citizens, and tortures its own: men, women, and children alike.
Read the full story here.
Leave it to Eric Margolis to be morally blinded by Syria’s lethal brutality and Israel’s painstaking and unprecedented efforts to avoid civilian casualties when targeting terrorists.
On the February 6 radio broadcast of the John Oakley Show on AM 640, Margolis equated Israel, which ranks as the most moral and ethical military in the world, to the Syrian regime, run by the “butcher” Basher Assad. A government that slaughters its own people, terrorizes its citizens, and tortures its own: men, women, and children alike.
Read the full story here.
The CBC unveils fairly nifty new digital music service. But will any of us actually use it?
CBC launched its new online music service, simply: CBC Music. And with much hurrah and white wine, the service was unveiled at one of the 10th-floor studios at CBC HQ; the stage was decked out with sleek black scaffolding dotted with oversized neon-blue PLAY buttons, and flanked by two “interactive bars” where those in attendance (mostly CBC employees, industry types, and some press) could check out the new website. Caterers ferried around wine, sparkling water, and miniature duck tacos while PR reps with headsets and clipboards made sure everyone was where they should be.
CBC Music seems to want to create a little mini-Internet within the Internet, where users can do all these things while remaining within the confines of CBC’s site architecture and banner ads. For casual music fans or oldsters who use the Internet at the public library and call it “the e-mail,” this may be fine. But for seasoned web crawlers and cyberspace surfers who already know their way around the World Wide Web, it seems superfluous.
Then again, you’re paying for it. You might as well take it for a spin.
Read the whole story here.
CBC Music seems to want to create a little mini-Internet within the Internet, where users can do all these things while remaining within the confines of CBC’s site architecture and banner ads. For casual music fans or oldsters who use the Internet at the public library and call it “the e-mail,” this may be fine. But for seasoned web crawlers and cyberspace surfers who already know their way around the World Wide Web, it seems superfluous.
Then again, you’re paying for it. You might as well take it for a spin.
Read the whole story here.
CBC ‘cannot be immune from public scrutiny,’ Quebecor chief says ...
The head of Quebecor has unleashed a tirade against the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, saying the public broadcaster has been deliberately withholding information requested by the reporters in his media chain.
He went on to accuse all other media organizations in Canada, including The Globe and Mail, CTV, the National Post, La Presse and The Canadian Press, of having entered into financial and journalistic arrangements with the public broadcaster that make it impossible for them to ask arm’s-length questions about the CBC.
In the case of The Globe, he said, the paper receives advertising money and profits from the sale of material to the CBC from the Canadian Press because it has a financial stake in the wire service.
Read the full story here.
He went on to accuse all other media organizations in Canada, including The Globe and Mail, CTV, the National Post, La Presse and The Canadian Press, of having entered into financial and journalistic arrangements with the public broadcaster that make it impossible for them to ask arm’s-length questions about the CBC.
In the case of The Globe, he said, the paper receives advertising money and profits from the sale of material to the CBC from the Canadian Press because it has a financial stake in the wire service.
Read the full story here.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Withhold Information ...
So the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (let’s just call them ‘Friends’) are a little upset with us for upturning some of their financial dealings with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). We sort of expected that.
In their response we were delighted to read that contrary what we had been told by the CBC, “All members of the Friends' Steering Committee gave explicit written permission to the CBC to release the requested information.”
This new information made our day, as we therefore expect the CBC to provide us with the 85 redacted pages from the Access to Information (ATI) documents.
We were quick to get on the phone with the CBC’s ATI department today to find out if we had been incorrectly informed, or to find out when we can receive the redacted information.
The CBC assured us that, “Names not included in the received documents did not give clear consent for disclosure.” In short, the CBC required explicit consent to disclose these people’s financial dealings, and did not receive it from everyone, contrary to what our Friends said. At least, the CBC doesn’t think that it did.
In short, somebody has some splainin’ to do.
To see the full story, click here.
In their response we were delighted to read that contrary what we had been told by the CBC, “All members of the Friends' Steering Committee gave explicit written permission to the CBC to release the requested information.”
This new information made our day, as we therefore expect the CBC to provide us with the 85 redacted pages from the Access to Information (ATI) documents.
We were quick to get on the phone with the CBC’s ATI department today to find out if we had been incorrectly informed, or to find out when we can receive the redacted information.
The CBC assured us that, “Names not included in the received documents did not give clear consent for disclosure.” In short, the CBC required explicit consent to disclose these people’s financial dealings, and did not receive it from everyone, contrary to what our Friends said. At least, the CBC doesn’t think that it did.
In short, somebody has some splainin’ to do.
To see the full story, click here.
Provided by taxpayers, CBC CEO gets a personal driver ...
Not only do we give CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix a very nice salary somewhere between $358,400 and $421,600, he also gets his own $34,000 – $56,500 paid chauffeur on our dime.
On top of his salary, Lacroix expensed just under $30,000 last year adding to the total of $180,000 in expenses since 2008:
“The expenses of the President and CEO are approved by the Chair of CBC/Radio-Canada,” say the documents. “They are also reviewed on a quarterly basis by CBC/Radio-Canada’s internal auditors."
CBC Reporter Neil MacDonald Closes Twitter Account Under Pressure ...
Neil MacDonald's "ammunition for attacks" against Israel are now in short supply. Following a complaint from his "detractors," MacDonald closed his CBC Twitter account.
We have gone on record, time and again with CBC management to express our view that Macdonald's reporting is not consistent with the CBC's policy guidelines which calls for accuracy, fairness, and journalistic neutrality.
MacDonald’s continued exploitation of his position at the CBC was on full public display in the following tweet he authored on his CBC Twitter account on January 5:
One can only imagine what Neil MacDonald had in mind when writing this tweet. Was he implying that Israelis frequently shoot at either Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, or Syrians?
Read the full story here.
We have gone on record, time and again with CBC management to express our view that Macdonald's reporting is not consistent with the CBC's policy guidelines which calls for accuracy, fairness, and journalistic neutrality.
MacDonald’s continued exploitation of his position at the CBC was on full public display in the following tweet he authored on his CBC Twitter account on January 5:
One can only imagine what Neil MacDonald had in mind when writing this tweet. Was he implying that Israelis frequently shoot at either Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, or Syrians?
Read the full story here.
CBC helps CSIS change the lead story from the Air India bombing to foreign espionage ...
The Canadian media are in an uproar over comments on CBC by Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Fadden told interviewer Peter "Bilderberger" Mansbridge that CSIS is aware of municipal and provincial politicians who have come under the influence of foreign governments.
This will send reporters on a chase to find out which municipal politicians have accepted free trips to China.
Mansbridge didn't ask Fadden about MPs who've accepted free trips to Israel, Taiwan, and other countries.
Some cynics might wonder if Mansbridge himself was acting on behalf of a foreign government when he conducted a softball interview with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late May.
Lower-level CSIS and RCMP officials have raised the spectre of Chinese espionage in the past, most notably in the Project Sidewinder investigation, which was derailed by their superiors.
Read the full story here.
Fadden told interviewer Peter "Bilderberger" Mansbridge that CSIS is aware of municipal and provincial politicians who have come under the influence of foreign governments.
This will send reporters on a chase to find out which municipal politicians have accepted free trips to China.
Mansbridge didn't ask Fadden about MPs who've accepted free trips to Israel, Taiwan, and other countries.
Some cynics might wonder if Mansbridge himself was acting on behalf of a foreign government when he conducted a softball interview with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late May.
Lower-level CSIS and RCMP officials have raised the spectre of Chinese espionage in the past, most notably in the Project Sidewinder investigation, which was derailed by their superiors.
Read the full story here.
CBC salaries disclosed... sort of ..........
The CBC pays 730 staffers more than $100,000 in salary per year, but won't say who they are.
The CBC is also keeping mum about how much news anchor Peter Mansbridge and host George Stroumboulopoulos get paid.
"Their salary information is also protected in accordance with the federal Privacy Act," wrote Heritage Minister James Moore in response to written questions in the House of Commons.
The query came from a member of his own party.
"I am disappointed individuals who are on the public payroll ‹ and certainly these members of the CBC are - those salaries and expenses ought to be disclosed," said Brent Rathgeber, Conservative MP from Alberta.
Read the full story here.
The CBC is also keeping mum about how much news anchor Peter Mansbridge and host George Stroumboulopoulos get paid.
"Their salary information is also protected in accordance with the federal Privacy Act," wrote Heritage Minister James Moore in response to written questions in the House of Commons.
The query came from a member of his own party.
"I am disappointed individuals who are on the public payroll ‹ and certainly these members of the CBC are - those salaries and expenses ought to be disclosed," said Brent Rathgeber, Conservative MP from Alberta.
Read the full story here.
CBC: Fade to Black ...
The CBC move to become ultra-light in an effort to woo younger viewers and boost its ratings has been a dismal failure. The age of the average CBC audience has not declined appreciably. The audience numbers have not risen, especially in comparison to the gains made by CTV and Global since the rating system was changed. Shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie and Insecurity have served to turn loyal CBC viewers away from the network. The National’s weak efforts since it was revamped have served to cut anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of the CBC News audience.
CBC TV, it seems, has finally lost its standing as an important Canadian institution. Twenty-five years of budget cuts and six years of management dumbing down the content have worked their magic to make CBC TV just another station, and an unpopular one at that. The fact that the CBC costs Canadians a billion dollars per year only serves to make citizens care more about the money and less about what the network has to offer.
Stephen Harper will not have to sell off the CBC, he won’t even have to do anything drastic. All he has to do is stand aside and let the CBC drift further and further into irrelevancy.
Full story here.
St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber's CBC questions go unanswered ...
Local MP Brent Rathgeber’s attempt to pry salary information out of the CBC was set back this week with an answer from the heritage minister that didn’t provide what he was looking for.
Rathgeber put a question on the order paper in December in a bid to get salary information for top CBC talent like Peter Mansbridge and George Stroumboulopoulos, as well as hospitality expenses and the cost of running foreign bureaus.
The answer he received from minister James Moore contained none of that information and only revealed that approximately 730 people at the CBC make more than $100,000.
Rathgeber said he was unimpressed with the answer and said it is simply a matter of transparency with public funds.
“I maintain that taxpayers who are the shareholders of a corporation have a right to know how that corporation spends its money.”
Read the full story here.
PS - what do YOU think? Do we have a right to know?
Rathgeber put a question on the order paper in December in a bid to get salary information for top CBC talent like Peter Mansbridge and George Stroumboulopoulos, as well as hospitality expenses and the cost of running foreign bureaus.
The answer he received from minister James Moore contained none of that information and only revealed that approximately 730 people at the CBC make more than $100,000.
Rathgeber said he was unimpressed with the answer and said it is simply a matter of transparency with public funds.
“I maintain that taxpayers who are the shareholders of a corporation have a right to know how that corporation spends its money.”
Read the full story here.
PS - what do YOU think? Do we have a right to know?
Moore can’t face Hard questions ...
Should the Canadian government use your tax dollars to get into the online pornography business?
There really is only one way to answer that question. Which is why the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation never asked permission — they just went ahead and did it.
But there are millions of porn websites on the Internet already, according to a good friend of mine. Why is the government of Canada spending tax money to add one more?
We don’t even know how much it costs, because the CBC says that’s a “journalistic secret.”
But what about James Moore? He’s the heritage minister, who is supposed to be responsible for the CBC.
Sun Media’s Kris Sims asked him about the porn series. But instead of taking responsibility for the CBC and the $1.1 billion a year in tax money he gives them, Moore turned on Sims for daring to ask him such a question, saying she was trying to drive up public anger against the CBC.
But it’s the job of independent journalists to hold the government to account for spending — and that includes the black hole called the CBC.
Read the full story here.
There really is only one way to answer that question. Which is why the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation never asked permission — they just went ahead and did it.
But there are millions of porn websites on the Internet already, according to a good friend of mine. Why is the government of Canada spending tax money to add one more?
We don’t even know how much it costs, because the CBC says that’s a “journalistic secret.”
But what about James Moore? He’s the heritage minister, who is supposed to be responsible for the CBC.
Sun Media’s Kris Sims asked him about the porn series. But instead of taking responsibility for the CBC and the $1.1 billion a year in tax money he gives them, Moore turned on Sims for daring to ask him such a question, saying she was trying to drive up public anger against the CBC.
But it’s the job of independent journalists to hold the government to account for spending — and that includes the black hole called the CBC.
Read the full story here.
CBC doubles down on pornography ...
In what kind of alternate reality universe is it OK for a government agency to use tax dollars to pay for pornography?
Apparently in the CBC’s world.
In case you haven’t heard, CBC’s French division has been posting a pornographic television show on one of their websites free for all to see. Let me be clear about something: The one thing the Internet does not need more of is porn.
CBC can’t even get away with claiming that this is somehow fulfilling their mandate to tell Canadians stories, to educate and enlighten.
This is a program purchased from a private company in France and posted online for free. French people having sex is not a Canadian story.
At a time when Canada has a national debt of close to $580 billion, a projected deficit for this year of close to $30 billion and every single department is facing budget cuts, surely CBC could think of better things to spend its money on. If they can’t, maybe it’s time to turn off the money taps.
Read the whole story here.
What do YOU think??
Apparently in the CBC’s world.
In case you haven’t heard, CBC’s French division has been posting a pornographic television show on one of their websites free for all to see. Let me be clear about something: The one thing the Internet does not need more of is porn.
CBC can’t even get away with claiming that this is somehow fulfilling their mandate to tell Canadians stories, to educate and enlighten.
This is a program purchased from a private company in France and posted online for free. French people having sex is not a Canadian story.
At a time when Canada has a national debt of close to $580 billion, a projected deficit for this year of close to $30 billion and every single department is facing budget cuts, surely CBC could think of better things to spend its money on. If they can’t, maybe it’s time to turn off the money taps.
Read the whole story here.
What do YOU think??
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting on the CBC Payroll ...
Amongst the many Access to Information (ATI) enquiries we make each year was this tidbit relating to the CBC. Our National Research Director, Derek Fildebrandt got to thinking about the leadership of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, the group that advocates for more funding for the CBC. “What if these people are actually on the CBC’s payroll?” thought Derek.
We finally got our answer, after a long wait. As it turns out, the situation is actually pretty funny. ATI documents show that three members of the ‘Friends’ Steering Committee actually were on the CBC payroll.
Aritha van Herk was paid to write poems and was paid $6,322. David Tars was paid to be a “reader” and was paid $277, while Stephen Kimber was paid $675 as a “freelance[r].”
These are quite small sums of money – especially in the latter two cases – however this is by no means the whole picture. Some of the individuals refused to disclose their financial arrangements with the CBC, resulting in about 85 pages of the ATI documents being blanked out.
It sort of makes you think – if your goal is to demonstrate public support for the CBC, wouldn’t you put members of the public on your board, rather than CBC contractors?
Read the full story here.
We finally got our answer, after a long wait. As it turns out, the situation is actually pretty funny. ATI documents show that three members of the ‘Friends’ Steering Committee actually were on the CBC payroll.
Aritha van Herk was paid to write poems and was paid $6,322. David Tars was paid to be a “reader” and was paid $277, while Stephen Kimber was paid $675 as a “freelance[r].”
These are quite small sums of money – especially in the latter two cases – however this is by no means the whole picture. Some of the individuals refused to disclose their financial arrangements with the CBC, resulting in about 85 pages of the ATI documents being blanked out.
It sort of makes you think – if your goal is to demonstrate public support for the CBC, wouldn’t you put members of the public on your board, rather than CBC contractors?
Read the full story here.
Is the CBC paying for porn?
Canadians who are hankering for some titillating programming from France can turn to an online platform being offered by the French branch of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I can understand promoting the French language, but I certainly would not support anything that involves porn, that's for sure," said Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay, who passed on seeing the clips, but said he wouldn't support it even if they had used actors from Quebec instead of France.
"I can understand promoting the French language, but I certainly would not support anything that involves porn, that's for sure," said Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay, who passed on seeing the clips, but said he wouldn't support it even if they had used actors from Quebec instead of France.
"I don't think my constituents would like paying for any television programming made outside of Canada," said Rob Merrifield, a Tory MP from Alberta. "It doesn't look right to me."
His caucus colleague John Williamson, former head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, agrees.
"This kind of programming should not be on a broadcaster that is funded by taxpayers, that receives a billion dollars a year, this kind of industry does not need tax dollars to support it," Williamson said.
Read the full story here.
PS - what do YOU think?
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