Media Bias in Canada

 What are we to do when our MEDIA picks favourites? What are we, as a society, to do when journalists are part of the right-wing propaganda machine? 

What are we to do when Canadian journalists repeat conservative talking points as facts, without verification? When they use tentative terms, like "claims" or "alleges" when reporting government statements, and absolutes like "says" and "stated" when reporting CPC statements? 

What are we to do when Canadian Media look to junk "think-tanks" like the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation to paint a picture of reality? What are we to do when our fourth estate has been bought and controlled by those who are not interested in our public good? 

Where are the journalists with integrity? Where are the journalists with professional commitment? Where are the journalists with the guts to fact-check the conservatives? Where are the journalists who are working for the public good? 

Why is even the CBC, our public broadcaster, acting as a CPC cheerleader, even though the new leader promises to put them all out of work? What has happened to journalism in Canada? What can we do about it? 

It's no coincidence that any invading army or dictatorial regime takes control of the media early on. If you control the news - what is reported and how it is reported - you can change the way people see their society. You can create scapegoats. You can justify the unthinkable. 

Many may say I am over-reacting. But this has been going on a long time. Canadians are getting used to hearing the news conservatives want them to hear. Panels of pro-conservative pundits are normalized now. We get more opinion than news, and that's been normalized too. 

1. Is it true?
2. Is it verifiable? (i.e. not the word of an anonymous source)
3. Is publishing it in the interest of the public good?

These are the tests every single piece of news reporting should have to pass.

Think critically when you hear or read the news. Question the way things are worded. Is the reporter conveying trust in what is being said, or incredulity? Is there fact-checking? Are there multiple reputable sources? Is what is being reported important or meant to stir the pot? 

Is the language used in reporting slanted in favour of or against the person or party being reported about? i.e. "Scandal-ridden government" is pejorative. It makes assumptions and leads the reader. Does the reporting seem factual and unbiased? 

Is the reporting full of heuristic cues to evoke positive or negative emotions in the reader/viewer? Adjectives can change the tone of a sentence dramatically, and affect the recipients' perceptions. Be wary of reporting that contains words that celebrate or vilify. 

Does it rely on a single-source so-called "expert" organization, like the Fraser Institute? Does it offer clarity as to the "expert's" qualifications/loyalties/funding? 

Offering "the other side" is a ruse in many cases. There can be one side that is factual and another that is opinion. It is important to differentiate. Offering a contradictory opinion is not only often not useful, it can be harmful. 

If you have a doctor talking about vaccines and an anti-vaxxer contradicting them, that is not good journalism. The other side does not always deserve the airtime because they are just wrong. And the fourth estate is not acting in the public good by giving a podium to just anyone 

We need to be on our guard. Our Canadian media has abandoned us. There are some great reporters out there, but the media infrastructure is controlled by those who do not have the public good at heart. This is a real and present danger to our Canadian way of life. We are not USA north. 

• • •

Do the Conservatives Have a Platform?

 I see people often say the CPC/UCP/etc have no policy, only attacks against the Liberals/NDP... I think this is inaccurate. They cannot present their policy to the public because Canadians would find their vision for Canada so unpalatable as to relegate their RW movement to the scrapheap of history. Some basic tenets upon which the current conservative movement is built:

1. Universal healthcare is an abomination to capitalism
A blog about the UCP in AB, but with the history explaining why the UCP think this way.

Alberta Bill 30 - Introducing For-Profit Medicine in AlbertaA blog about life in Canada. Everything from political ranting to living off the grid, to really whatever strikes my fancy.https://thecailleach.blogspot.com/2020/07/alberta-bill-30-introducing-for-profit.html

2. Public education is an abomination to capitalism, and the Church, as well as a hindrance to continual conservative rule.
Andrew Scheer had, as one of his platforms, the funding of religious private schools and home schooling. But this is just one part.

Federal funding for private schools: a cautionary taleAndrew Scheer’s proposal for a $4,000 tax deduction to send kids to private school would plant a ticking time bomb at the core of Canada’s school syst...https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/08/06/federal-funding-for-private-schools-a-cautionary-tale.html

Premier Jason Kenney had the "public" removed from public schools within Alberta and cut funding to post-secondary institutions, except private religious colleges.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

Furthermore, in Alberta, the UCP has introduced the idea of non-funded home schooling which does not have to meet the provincial curriculum. In other words, people can now teach their kids any damn thing they want.

Alberta government introduces bill to reduce rules for new charter schools, unsupervised homeschoolingKenney’s government lifted long-standing cap on charter schools last yearhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-government-introduces-bill-to-reduce-rules-for-new-charter/

If you read that previous article, you will have noticed a push towards vocational schools. And not just high school. Lets get those pre-teens learned up on pipe-fitting and mudlogging. Oh, and don't forget coal-mining. The UCP has paved the way for more open pit coal mines...

And created a lower minimum wage for those under 18. We can get those kids out to work faster than ever!

Making Child Labour Great Again! Alberta’s new labour law breaks old ground while undermining unions - Alberta PoliticsAlberta’s about to Make Child Labour Great Again! If you think this is a breakthrough, you’re probably a fast-food franchise owner. Yesterday, Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party introdu…https://albertapolitics.ca/2020/07/making-child-labour-great-again-albertas-new-labour-law-breaks-old-ground-while-undermining-unions/

Jason Kenney has, over the years, expressed his concern that schools are indoctrinating kids in collectivist thinking (learning to share & co-operate, one might assume) and all manner of harmful ideas (science?) that detract from basic numeracy & literacy.

VIDEO: Jason Kenney is fear mongering about ‘radical social engineering’ in Alberta schools againhttps://pressprogress.ca/jason_kenney_is_fear_mongering_about_radical_social_engineering_in_alberta_schools_again/

Basic numeracy and literacy are to be the focus of the new UCP curriculum, with annual standardised tests beginning in grade 1 to ensure that teachers do not stray from making their students memorize the times table.

This is the brand new Alberta school outcomes model. "Critical" as in "critical thinking" appears once, in high school. "Literature" does not appear at all. Literacy is treated as a career tool.
education.alberta.ca/media/3402192/…

Indeed, the UCP wants to go further, tying post-secondary academic programs to the speed with which graduates get high-paying jobs. Essentially, eliminating the arts and humanities and focusing on engineering and business.

Post-secondary funding in Alberta will be tied to performance, says ministerhttps://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-moves-to-outcomes-based-approach-to-post-secondary-funding

So, education is strictly for preparing Alberta's children for jobs to boost the bottom line of big companies. And if they can get rid of these secular public schools, workers will again be taught obedience to the church as well as to their betters.

3. Social programs are an abomination to the supreme authority of the church.
Charity used to be the exclusive purview of the church. Assistance was distributed according to the recipients' level of obeisance. Government social safety nets mean just anyone can get help.

Even sinners, like addicts. I believe there is a vocal element within the UCP who would like to go back to the old way, where everyone went to church and tithed, then the churches looked after the poor and sick as they saw fit.

Besides, social programs rob the government coffers of money which should properly go to the capitalist overlords.

Park parent of AISH recipient calls UCP changes obsceneThe 2019 Alberta budget is causing some major concerns for Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) recipients and their families.AISH provides a living allowance to Albertans who have a pe…https://www.sherwoodparknews.com/news/local-news/park-parent-of-aish-recipient-calls-ucp-changes-obscene

4. Canadians, outside of the inner circle of the conservative movement, are only human capital to be exploited for the increased wealth of the very rich.

Sorry, Not Enough “Human Capital”Restaurant Canada wants Alberta’s $15/hour minimum wage reduced for youth, liquor servers and people with disabilities. Mr Kenney says he’ll consider a reduction for youth and alcohol servers.  No …https://susanonthesoapbox.com/2019/02/17/sorry-not-enought-human-capital/

The CPC, under the rule of Stephen Harper and the direction of Jason Kenney introduced the temporary foreign workers program. There is a generally held belief that Canadians expect too much. Especially too much pay. This is why manufacturing went overseas. And the CPC...

Brought in the TFW program so employers could hire the same sort of cheap labour in Canada. Not as low-paying as jobs in their home countries, but lower than what a Canadian minimum wage worker would have to be paid. This not only exploited these workers, but also...

Depressed wages for Canadian workers. Because the common good of Canadians is far outweighed by the good of the corporations in conservative political minds.

Foreign workers a boon for employers, for Canada not so muchSkills shortages do seem to be rampant, but evidence of labour shortages is largely anecdotal and regional.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/foreign-workers-a-boon-for-employers-for-canada-not-so-much/article11433730/

Another aspect of this view of citizens as human capital is a disregard for human rights, except insofar as it it the conservatives' own rights. Thus, draconian punishments which amuse the mob mentality, stripping of rights from "sinners" like the LGBTQ2+ community...

5. The CPC deserve to govern forever.
Democracy gets in the way of this. Clearly God favours them and they should win every election. Therefore it is ok to cheat, mislead the public, suppress the vote, etc. Because power is their destiny. Or some such rot.

6. The media should broadcast the CPC message and no other.
Which most of them do, of course. They believe strongly in state-controlled propaganda media and would like to see other media shuttered.

Stephen Harper's '24 Seven' videos require up to four staffers to produceAs many as four public servants from the Privy Council Office are engaged in the publishing of weekly video clips that celebrate Stephen Harper’s accomplishmentshttps://nationalpost.com/news/politics/stephen-harpers-24-seven-videos-require-up-to-four-staffers-to-produce

It all comes together in a tidy package. Low education levels, poor health for all but the wealthy, low wages and lowered worker rights, theological laws, control of the media, and the freedom to determine electoral outcomes. And no one able to stand up to them, because...

everyone is poor, sick, uneducated, in prison, or dead. So, it seems the CPC vision for Canada is sort of pre-Magna Carta feudalism meets Industrial Revolution. No wonder they don't make it public. Watch what they do, not what they say.

They follow the GOP playbook, with co-ordination assistance from the IDU...

Why The Rush? Is Conservative Panic Driving So-Called "Scandals"?

For awhile I thought that it was Andrew Scheer... That he had convinced himself that if only he could lie loud enough and hard enough and often enough, he might topple the government and the CPC would let him stay and he could be PM... 

But then other pieces began to come together. Why do you suppose the CPC is engaged in a say-anything, do-anything hell-bent panic-stricken drive to get the Liberals out? Power, certainly. But they had power before... 

They didn't do nearly half of what they wanted to, and much of what they did has been reversed. Quite a bit of legislation has been overturned in constitutional challenges. 

A scorecard of the Harper government's wins and losses at the Supreme Court of CanadaIn one of starkest examples in Canadian history of two branches of government openly turning against one another, the red robed members Supreme Court of Canada have spent months systematically shooti…https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/scoc-harper-gov-scorecard-741324

Harper exhibited "charter activism", in opposition to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It can be justifiably stated that Harper hates the Charter. He hates it for a number of reasons, not the least is that it was created by a Trudeau. 

Harper's Charter Activism - Policy OptionsWhen it came to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Stephen Harper was often anything but an incrementalisthttps://policyoptions.irpp.org/2016/03/13/harpers-charter-activism/

He was so peeved by what he called "activist judges", one of many nods to American right wing jingoism, that he attempted to vilify the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. 
cbc.ca/news/politics/…

Now, why, you might ask, do I keep bringing up Stephen Harper? He was voted out as PM in 2015. He resigned his seat rather than sit in opposition to another Trudeau. It's because the CPC is still Stephen Harper's party. 

Jason Kenney and Scott Moe both have Harper on their provincial payrolls, directing their governments. And you can bet Scheer and whomever takes his place will have Harper on speed-dial looking for direction, advice, orders... 

Varcoe: Former PM Stephen Harper on Alberta's new economic recovery councilA 12-member panel, led by economist Jack Mintz, will be advising Premier Jason Kenney on issues surrounding the province's economic recoveryhttps://calgaryherald.com/business/varcoe-former-pm-stephen-harper-on-albertas-new-economic-recovery-council

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

Harper is still running the CPC. He may be relegated to being Oz, the man behind the curtain, but he is not done what he tried to do to Canada.

 He blames Canadian media for his defeat, which is amusing as US companies own almost all Canadian media. 

Former prime minister speaks about the liberal bias in Canadian mediaFormer Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Dennis Prager discussed the extreme media bias in Canada, making it more difficult for conservatives to get a foothold in Canadian politics.https://thepostmillennial.com/former-prime-minister-speaks-about-the-liberal-bias-in-canadian-media

And so, given that Harper is still very much in play, and even if he wasn't, his acolytes still occupy most CPC seats, one might wonder what has precipitated this full-on barrage of made-up scandals directed at the Liberal Party. 

Well, the amending formula for the constitution requires 2/3 of the provinces representing at least 50% of the population, and senate approval, to agree to re-open the constitution, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 
solon.org/Constitutions/….

Right now, the conservatives control Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. And Quebec has shifted right and are amenable. There's there 2/3 of provinces and 50% of the population. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:…

But Saskatchewan has an election coming up in November 2020. If, on the outside chance, the good folks of Saskatchewan decide they want a change of government, the perfect constellation allowing a re-opening of the constitution is gone. 

It is, I grant you, a slim chance. But the CPC are not about to let this opportunity slip away without a huge ugly fight. 

If they can get all the stars aligned, they can eradicate the Charter and change the constitution, so that none of their legislation can ever be overturned in the courts again. They will have absolute power. 

This is an ambition talked about in conservative circles. They want to offload federal responsibilities onto the provinces, create a "small" federal government, And be free to pass whatever laws they please without interference. 

This is tantamount to completely rewriting what Canada is. People need to understand this. Without our constitution and charter as they stand now, many people will be vulnerable to having their rights stripped away. Universal health care would be in jeopardy. 

It could open the door to two-tiered health care, normalize for-profit education, introduce for-profit prisons, where the prison corporations can sue provinces or the feds if the supply of slave labour is not kept to a certain level. 

Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons | The Sentencing ProjectThe War on Drugs and harsher sentencing policies, including mandatory minimum sentences, fueled a rapid expansion in the nation’s prison... Read More »https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-on-mass-incarceration-u-s-growth-in-private-prisons/

In short, if the CPC get what they want, if they can topple the Liberal government before they lose the necessary number of provinces to open the constitution and gut it, we are looking at becoming a clone of the US. 

Please remember that Harper hates Canada and everything we stand for. 

Text of Harper's speechhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/text-of-harpers-speech/article1131985/

He would dearly love to see us Americanized, as would his proteges in the CPC. And the UCP (Kenney, looking straight at YOU). 

Fortunately, I believe Canadians have a lot more sense than to vote for the CPC. We should be seeing now, from what is going on in Alberta and Ontario, and Manitoba, and the rest of the conservative led provinces, that they are not acting in our best interests. 

The public good is not a concept they extol. They are in it for themselves and the corporations who reward them. How do you suppose CPC MPs got so rich under Harper? Not from their salaries as MPs, that's for darned sure. 

The whole lot of them need to be audited, and then tossed to the curb. They are not here for us. This is not your grandparents' conservative party. This is an offshoot of the US Republican Party. Do not be confused. 

They want to remake Canada and not for the better. This is why they are so desperate to get into power before provincial governments change hands.