CBC declines to turn over Panama Papers data to CRA
News organization's spokesman says policy is to never reveal journalistic sources
The Canada Revenue Agency has formally asked the CBC to hand over offshore tax-haven data from the massive Panama Papers leak, but the news organization is refusing.
The commissioner of the agency, Andrew Treusch, sent an email on Friday to the president of the CBC asking for the data, saying the agency wants to begin work immediately on reviewing the information.
CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said the corporation rebuffed a similar request from the CRA in 2013 for another massive cache of tax-haven data — and will do so again.
"Simply stated, CBC News does not reveal its sources and we're not about to start now as a result of this request," he said.
Earlier this year, the Panama Papers were made available electronically to CBC News and other select news organizations around the world, and stories about the contents began to appear this month. The blockbuster revelations are having serious political repercussions in some countries, while others are looking at ways to stop the wealthy from stashing cash offshore to avoid paying taxes.
Read the 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.
AARC in litigation with CBC
Dealing with addiction during adolescence is complex. Consequently, AARC’s program and its
leadership have been the focus of public debate and criticism on occasion. Allegations
regarding connections to other treatment programs, the qualifications of AARC’s staff, its
unique treatment processes, access, cost and abuse can be found on both digital and in
traditional media. These allegations were most notably covered in a Fifth Estate broadcast,
aired by the CBC in February of 2009.
As a result of this broadcast, AARC is in litigation with the CBC, various CBC reporters and four ex-clients. AARC maintains that it has discredited all allegations of wrongdoing contained in the broadcast and is proceeding to trial against all parties to recover damages for the losses AARC has suffered as a result of the broadcast.
AARC’s accredited program is delivered through a strict governance model that employs independent oversight and written grievance procedures. AARC promptly addresses all allegations of wrongdoing, whether they are alleged to have occurred before or during treatment, by referral to the appropriate authorities. Allegations of criminal wrongdoing are immediately referred to the Calgary Police Service and the justice system.
Get the whole story here.
As a result of this broadcast, AARC is in litigation with the CBC, various CBC reporters and four ex-clients. AARC maintains that it has discredited all allegations of wrongdoing contained in the broadcast and is proceeding to trial against all parties to recover damages for the losses AARC has suffered as a result of the broadcast.
AARC’s accredited program is delivered through a strict governance model that employs independent oversight and written grievance procedures. AARC promptly addresses all allegations of wrongdoing, whether they are alleged to have occurred before or during treatment, by referral to the appropriate authorities. Allegations of criminal wrongdoing are immediately referred to the Calgary Police Service and the justice system.
Get the whole story here.
CBC reporter made significant error ...
On November 10, Honest Reporting Canada liaised with senior editors at our public broadcaster calling on CBC Radio to broadcast an immediate on-air correction to remedy a significant error stated by reporter Nil Köksal in a report broadcast the day prior.
Reporting from Istanbul, Köksal erroneously stated the following: “… and an ominous response from the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a Trump presidency would effectively end the idea of a Palestinian state, but as they welcomed the political upset, ripples of the Trump reality were felt elsewhere around the world.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not make this statement that this CBC reporter wrongly attributed to him and he still supports a two state solution in solving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, did. Importantly, Bennett’s views do not represent official Israeli government policy.
Read the full story here.
Reporting from Istanbul, Köksal erroneously stated the following: “… and an ominous response from the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a Trump presidency would effectively end the idea of a Palestinian state, but as they welcomed the political upset, ripples of the Trump reality were felt elsewhere around the world.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not make this statement that this CBC reporter wrongly attributed to him and he still supports a two state solution in solving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, did. Importantly, Bennett’s views do not represent official Israeli government policy.
Read the full story here.
CBC report unfair and one-sided
President-Elect Donald Trump’s appointment of David Friedman (pictured right) to serve as new U.S. Ambassador to Israel has been met with lots of news coverage in the mainstream media, much of it was myopic and was rife with hysteria, hyperbole, and doom & gloom scenarios.
Instead of informing listeners that many international Jewish organizations and Israeli politicians support his appointment, true to form, media outlets like the CBC cast his appointment as one which was met exclusively with derision.
On the evening of December 16, CBC Radio’s “World at Six” flagship program broadcast a report by Tom Parry which was unfair and one-sided in its depiction of Friedman’s appointment.
Read the full story here.
Instead of informing listeners that many international Jewish organizations and Israeli politicians support his appointment, true to form, media outlets like the CBC cast his appointment as one which was met exclusively with derision.
On the evening of December 16, CBC Radio’s “World at Six” flagship program broadcast a report by Tom Parry which was unfair and one-sided in its depiction of Friedman’s appointment.
Read the full story here.
IS CBC breaking the law?
Would Netflix want to get into the newspaper business? I doubt it. Then, why is CBC so keen on competing with the print media with its online offerings? Is it breaking the law in doing so?
For more than 20 years CBC has offered an Internet website, cbc.ca, but in the past few years this effort has been accelerated. In its recently released strategic plan, called “A Space for Us All,” CBC was coy about its plans to compete with print media.
The CBC strategy calls for TV/radio to be the lowest priorities and Internet and “mobile” services to be given the highest priority ...
Stop the presses! CBC derives all its authority from the 1991 Broadcasting Act, which no where says CBC should be a content company. It should seek listeners and viewers by whatever means. But readers? The Act calls for CBC to operate licenced radio and TV services. By their nature some CBC Web-based services are not radio/TV and are unlicensed and, if they have a role (which they do in audio and video), should not be funded by taxpayers without their agreement. CBC is required by law to release data on the separated costs and revenues of its TV/radio services but has never released financial data on its digital services.
Read the full story here.
PS - The author Barry Kiefl is president of Canadian Media Research Inc., and a former director of research at CBC.
CBC’s expanding digital presence has unfair advantage
As the parliamentary heritage committee wraps up an important study on the state and survival prospects of local media in Canada, CBC President and CEO Hubert Lacroix took aim at private media outlets who he says have used the committee’s hearings to “argue for a weaker public broadcaster.”
The heritage committee heard from 119 witnesses — representatives of media outlets, professors, union officials and Canadian Heritage staff, among many others. Several of those invited to testify — most recently, The Globe and Mail and Rebel Media — have urged committee members to “level the playing field” between the CBC and Canada’s struggling legacy media companies and new digital outlets.
The Globe’s publisher and CEO, Phillip Crawley, told committees members last week that CBC’s expanding digital presence — funded by tax dollars — and its use of digital advertising gives the public broadcaster an unfair competitive advantage. Crawley suggested the committee look to the United Kingdom, where the BBC is not allowed to accept digital advertising.
Read the full story here.
The heritage committee heard from 119 witnesses — representatives of media outlets, professors, union officials and Canadian Heritage staff, among many others. Several of those invited to testify — most recently, The Globe and Mail and Rebel Media — have urged committee members to “level the playing field” between the CBC and Canada’s struggling legacy media companies and new digital outlets.
The Globe’s publisher and CEO, Phillip Crawley, told committees members last week that CBC’s expanding digital presence — funded by tax dollars — and its use of digital advertising gives the public broadcaster an unfair competitive advantage. Crawley suggested the committee look to the United Kingdom, where the BBC is not allowed to accept digital advertising.
Read the full story here.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix admits model broken
CBC president defends ad-free proposal, asks Ottawa for $400M to 'unshackle' broadcaster.
Hubert Lacroix thinks the CBC's business model is broken.
Hubert Lacroix: Broken means that even if the current federal government has reinvested $75 million for the first year and $150 million for the next four, those dollars do not allow us, over time, to actually fix the issues that are about ensuring that we can continue giving services to Canadians, as Canadians expect. We're not the only ones to feel that way. Every other conventional broadcaster feels the difficulty of ad revenues moving and of the digital transformation that we're all coping with.
Read the full interview here.
PS - where do YOU think the blame lies?
Hubert Lacroix thinks the CBC's business model is broken.
Hubert Lacroix: Broken means that even if the current federal government has reinvested $75 million for the first year and $150 million for the next four, those dollars do not allow us, over time, to actually fix the issues that are about ensuring that we can continue giving services to Canadians, as Canadians expect. We're not the only ones to feel that way. Every other conventional broadcaster feels the difficulty of ad revenues moving and of the digital transformation that we're all coping with.
Read the full interview here.
PS - where do YOU think the blame lies?
CBC’s pension ponzi scheme
The CBC budget for 2011 was $1.1 billion.
Teeth are being gnashed over the loss of staff and programming, but these cuts pale in comparison to the costs of propping up the CBC’s pension ponzi scheme. How will it fund its current pension solvency deficit of $801 million (2010), which is more than double the $382 million deficit the previous year?
The CBC pension is a mature plan with more retirees receiving money from the plan (9,066) than employees paying into the plan (8,086). Every employee fired from CBC increases the cash required from taxpayers to prop up a plan that is flawed by design.
In our analysis of the CBC pension plan, we discovered that employees invested only $68 million for the ACTRA buy-back but will get an estimated $461 million in additional retirement income.
Read the full story here.
Teeth are being gnashed over the loss of staff and programming, but these cuts pale in comparison to the costs of propping up the CBC’s pension ponzi scheme. How will it fund its current pension solvency deficit of $801 million (2010), which is more than double the $382 million deficit the previous year?
The CBC pension is a mature plan with more retirees receiving money from the plan (9,066) than employees paying into the plan (8,086). Every employee fired from CBC increases the cash required from taxpayers to prop up a plan that is flawed by design.
In our analysis of the CBC pension plan, we discovered that employees invested only $68 million for the ACTRA buy-back but will get an estimated $461 million in additional retirement income.
Read the full story here.
CBC Pension Plan Flawed By Design
In 2010, CBC employees contributed $26.9 million to their pensions, but $51.2 million was added by taxpayers. While the split is supposed to be 50/50, CBC has chosen to ask taxpayers to fund the deficit without asking employees to contribute more.
Much of CBC’s pension problem can be attributed to a highly-controversial decision to allow “retroactive” pensions to employees who previously did not qualify for them. Under a program called “buy-backs,” starting in the early 2000s, members of the ACTRA union were allowed to purchase pension credits in the CBC plan, triggering a lucrative – but underfunded – guaranteed pension.
Read the full story here.
Much of CBC’s pension problem can be attributed to a highly-controversial decision to allow “retroactive” pensions to employees who previously did not qualify for them. Under a program called “buy-backs,” starting in the early 2000s, members of the ACTRA union were allowed to purchase pension credits in the CBC plan, triggering a lucrative – but underfunded – guaranteed pension.
Read the full story here.
CBC Peter Mansbridge compared to Jian Ghomeshi
Linden MacIntyre has not been barred from appearing on CBC News Network this week despite an internal memo to the contrary.
Jennifer Harwood, managing editor of CBC News Network, sent a memo to some staff late Wednesday stating that interviews with MacIntyre on the network this week have been cancelled.
The memo said the move came about because of MacIntyre’s recent comments to the Globe and Mail comparing the workplace behaviour of Peter Mansbridge to that of ousted Q host Jian Ghomeshi.
In the Globe interview, MacIntyre said Ghomeshi was “allowed to bully and abuse people,” adding that “that’s the way it works, whether it’s Mansbridge, (Peter) Gzowski, whatever. They were not like shrinking violets, either.”
Read the full story here.
Jennifer Harwood, managing editor of CBC News Network, sent a memo to some staff late Wednesday stating that interviews with MacIntyre on the network this week have been cancelled.
The memo said the move came about because of MacIntyre’s recent comments to the Globe and Mail comparing the workplace behaviour of Peter Mansbridge to that of ousted Q host Jian Ghomeshi.
In the Globe interview, MacIntyre said Ghomeshi was “allowed to bully and abuse people,” adding that “that’s the way it works, whether it’s Mansbridge, (Peter) Gzowski, whatever. They were not like shrinking violets, either.”
Read the full story here.
CBC Should Apologize To Alberta MLA
Tom Kmiec, MP
Calgary Shepard
Please find below a copy of the letter I have sent to the CBC Ombudsman calling on the CBC to apologize to Alberta MLA Derek Fildebrandt following his unjust portrayal in a recent article.
“Dear CBC Ombudsman,
I am writing to file a complaint about the journalistic content appearing on one of CBC’s platforms. Specifically, I would like to draw attention to a recent CBC.ca news article titled “Calgary anti-carbon tax rally draws about 800, including CPC leadership hopefuls” written by David Bell, which featured a photo of Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt clipped from what seems to be a video, capturing him in a Nazi-styled salute.
Although this photo has since been replaced, and a correction issued regretting the error, I am appalled by the lack of standards that led to such a picture appearing on the CBC’s website. "
Read the full letter here.
CBC President Hubert Lacroix wants another $400 million dollars
The president of CBC/Radio Canada said a proposal to increase government funding to the public broadcaster and do away with ads would transform the organization, especially its television programming.
He said CBC will become a "completely different broadcaster."
In a November proposal submitted as part of the government's public consultation about the future of Canada content in a digital world, Lacroix proposed increasing funding to CBC by about $400 million to allow the broadcaster to completely do away with ads.
See the full story here.
PS - are you in favor of giving more tax dollars to the CBC?
He said CBC will become a "completely different broadcaster."
In a November proposal submitted as part of the government's public consultation about the future of Canada content in a digital world, Lacroix proposed increasing funding to CBC by about $400 million to allow the broadcaster to completely do away with ads.
See the full story here.
PS - are you in favor of giving more tax dollars to the CBC?
CBC loses $1 million appeal
The CBC must pay one of the largest defamation penalties ever imposed on a Canadian media outlet after being denied its final avenue of appeal.
The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday that it will not hear the case. The top justices never give reasons for refusing to hear appeals.
Two years ago, the CBC was ordered to pay close to $1 million in damages to medical scientist Dr. Frans Leenen of the University of Ottawa because of a story that ran on the investigative program the fifth estate.
It was also told to pay another $200,000 in damages to a Toronto cardiologist, Dr. Martin Myers.
The two doctors had sued the CBC over a story about the safety of heart medication that had been broadcast in 1996.
They accused the investigative report of being malicious, unfair, defamatory and sensationalized.
Read the full story here.
Secret collusion between the CBC and Liberals
Tony Blair was the UK prime minister when Jean Chretien was Canada’s prime minister, so the two of them had many conversations.
Now Tony Blair’s senior aide, Alastair Campbell, has written his memoir, which includes a conversation between Blair and Chretien:
Blair “had a good time with Chretien, who told him the hilarious story of how Opposition leader Stockwell Day made a pledge that if three per cent of the population wanted a referendum on any issue, they could have it, so the Liberals got a TV station to organize a three per cent write-in campaign for Stockwell to change his first name to Doris. It really took off, to the point the Liberals even adopted ‘Que Sera Sera’ as their campaign song.”
What Campbell obviously didn’t know, is that that “TV station” was actually Canada’s state broadcaster, the CBC.
Read the full story here.
Now Tony Blair’s senior aide, Alastair Campbell, has written his memoir, which includes a conversation between Blair and Chretien:
Blair “had a good time with Chretien, who told him the hilarious story of how Opposition leader Stockwell Day made a pledge that if three per cent of the population wanted a referendum on any issue, they could have it, so the Liberals got a TV station to organize a three per cent write-in campaign for Stockwell to change his first name to Doris. It really took off, to the point the Liberals even adopted ‘Que Sera Sera’ as their campaign song.”
What Campbell obviously didn’t know, is that that “TV station” was actually Canada’s state broadcaster, the CBC.
Read the full story here.
Document Compares CBC and BBC
The Liberal government is looking at the British Broadcasting Corporation as it examines the future of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a newly-released document indicates.
The Canadian Heritage department, whose minister Melanie Joly is responsible for the CBC/Radio-Canada, produced a detailed comparison in April of the two public broadcasters.
The document, obtained under the Access to Information Act, compares the mandate, funding and governance of the CBC and BBC, and looks ahead to coming changes for both institutions.
Read the full story here.
The Canadian Heritage department, whose minister Melanie Joly is responsible for the CBC/Radio-Canada, produced a detailed comparison in April of the two public broadcasters.
The document, obtained under the Access to Information Act, compares the mandate, funding and governance of the CBC and BBC, and looks ahead to coming changes for both institutions.
Read the full story here.
Kellie Leitch pledging to scrap CBC
Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is pledging to scrap the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, if elected prime minister.
Leitch made the announcement in a release Thursday, one day after leadership rival Maxime Bernier outlined his plan to “refocus” the mandate of the public broadcaster.
“The CBC doesn’t need to be reformed it needs to be dismantled,” Leitch said in the release.
Read the full story here.
Leitch made the announcement in a release Thursday, one day after leadership rival Maxime Bernier outlined his plan to “refocus” the mandate of the public broadcaster.
“The CBC doesn’t need to be reformed it needs to be dismantled,” Leitch said in the release.
Read the full story here.
Irresponsible for CBC to explain the news rather than provide it
The CBC has been plastering bus stops and billboards with ads for its new television season, but the national broadcaster’s most important fall launch is not a scripted series about a family who runs a convenience store. It is a reimagining of a significant section of the news division, the most vital service the CBC ultimately provides to Canadians.
Coming this fall to CBC.ca is an opinion vertical, a space devoted exclusively to commentary and analysis of the day’s news.
As with almost anything the CBC tries, this shift has already drawn criticism. The most consistent has come from media circles, a variation on a common theme against most of CBC’s digital properties – that they have an unfair advantage over their competitors. With the sort of stable funding most media organizations can only dream of, the argument goes, the CBC’s ability to give both writers and advertisers a major national platform makes it much, much harder for smaller, independent news organizations to find a foothold, much less grow to stable size.
Read the full story here.
Coming this fall to CBC.ca is an opinion vertical, a space devoted exclusively to commentary and analysis of the day’s news.
As with almost anything the CBC tries, this shift has already drawn criticism. The most consistent has come from media circles, a variation on a common theme against most of CBC’s digital properties – that they have an unfair advantage over their competitors. With the sort of stable funding most media organizations can only dream of, the argument goes, the CBC’s ability to give both writers and advertisers a major national platform makes it much, much harder for smaller, independent news organizations to find a foothold, much less grow to stable size.
Read the full story here.
Lots of reasons to take away CBC subsidy
As a subsidized CBC opinion-maker, you ask, what do I think of the CBC’s recent foray into subsidized opinion-making?
My corporate masters have grown increasingly vocal in their own right over the subsidized threat the CBC poses to our beloved industry. The latest skirmish is over the CBC’s recent expansion into the opinion business.
More important, the opinions it is now publishing online are delivered, not in the oral tradition of, say, At Issue, but in textual form — just like, well, like this. You will instantly grasp how this changes everything. It’s one thing for the CBC to be competing with the private broadcasters, as it has since time began, i.e. 1960. But now, heaven preserve us, it’s competing with the newspapers.
The main reason to cut off the CBC’s parliamentary grant is that the circumstances that once justified it have vanished. In the early days of television (and radio) it was technically impossible to charge viewers directly for the programs they watched, or to exclude those who did not. That left two possible sources of funds: either advertising, or the state.
With the advent of pay television, that argument began to dissolve. With the proliferation of first hundreds and now, thanks to the Internet, tens of thousands of video (and audio) sources, it has disappeared entirely.In its own interests, as much as those of the taxpayers, the CBC needs to move the bulk of its offerings (there can be exceptions) to a subscription model.
Read the full story here.
My corporate masters have grown increasingly vocal in their own right over the subsidized threat the CBC poses to our beloved industry. The latest skirmish is over the CBC’s recent expansion into the opinion business.
More important, the opinions it is now publishing online are delivered, not in the oral tradition of, say, At Issue, but in textual form — just like, well, like this. You will instantly grasp how this changes everything. It’s one thing for the CBC to be competing with the private broadcasters, as it has since time began, i.e. 1960. But now, heaven preserve us, it’s competing with the newspapers.
The main reason to cut off the CBC’s parliamentary grant is that the circumstances that once justified it have vanished. In the early days of television (and radio) it was technically impossible to charge viewers directly for the programs they watched, or to exclude those who did not. That left two possible sources of funds: either advertising, or the state.
With the advent of pay television, that argument began to dissolve. With the proliferation of first hundreds and now, thanks to the Internet, tens of thousands of video (and audio) sources, it has disappeared entirely.In its own interests, as much as those of the taxpayers, the CBC needs to move the bulk of its offerings (there can be exceptions) to a subscription model.
Read the full story here.
CBC Mourns Closure of Anti-Israel Organization
On November 27, CBC News.ca and CBC News Toronto, both produced news reports which effectively mourned the closure of an anti-Israel Palestinian organization in Toronto called Beit Zatoun, which recently gave a platform to a Holocaust denier.
Untold to CBC readers and viewers is that Beit Zatoun was an organization well known for its anti-Israel activism and which only several months ago, hosted Holocaust denier Ken O’Keefe, giving this notorious antisemitic hate-monger a platform.
Instead, CBC Journalist Laura Howells whitewashed Beit Zatoun as a “community space” known for its poetry, arts and culture, that was a “casualty” to a new development in the area.
Read the full story here.
Untold to CBC readers and viewers is that Beit Zatoun was an organization well known for its anti-Israel activism and which only several months ago, hosted Holocaust denier Ken O’Keefe, giving this notorious antisemitic hate-monger a platform.
Instead, CBC Journalist Laura Howells whitewashed Beit Zatoun as a “community space” known for its poetry, arts and culture, that was a “casualty” to a new development in the area.
Read the full story here.
CBC asks Ottawa for another $300 million
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has submitted a proposal to the federal government requesting $318 million in additional funding in order to allow the public broadcaster to move to an ad-free model.
Inspired by the British Broadcasting Corp., the CBC is also recommending that its funding level be “depoliticized” by tying its subsidy to its current five-year licence cycle, indexing it to inflation, and keeping it separate from election and government budget announcements.
Read the full story here.
Inspired by the British Broadcasting Corp., the CBC is also recommending that its funding level be “depoliticized” by tying its subsidy to its current five-year licence cycle, indexing it to inflation, and keeping it separate from election and government budget announcements.
Read the full story here.
CBC’s answer to its privileged status
Here’s how thinking works in the upper echelons of the CBC.
Canada’s public broadcasting network has been under fire for months over its efforts to build a digital presence in direct competition with private newspapers and other media, which are struggling to survive in the face of remorseless technological change. The private operators maintain it’s unfair that the CBC gets generous subsidies to steal business from them. In a world of shifting readership habits and murderous competition, every penny of revenue is vital. The CBC, they note, already enjoys a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion a year, including a $150 million annual boost introduced by the Trudeau Liberals. Private operators, meanwhile, are hemorrhaging money as the strive to keep the wolf from the door.
The CBC’s response: Ask for even more money from the public purse.
Read the full story here.
Canada’s public broadcasting network has been under fire for months over its efforts to build a digital presence in direct competition with private newspapers and other media, which are struggling to survive in the face of remorseless technological change. The private operators maintain it’s unfair that the CBC gets generous subsidies to steal business from them. In a world of shifting readership habits and murderous competition, every penny of revenue is vital. The CBC, they note, already enjoys a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion a year, including a $150 million annual boost introduced by the Trudeau Liberals. Private operators, meanwhile, are hemorrhaging money as the strive to keep the wolf from the door.
The CBC’s response: Ask for even more money from the public purse.
Read the full story here.
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