CBC shows it has no intention of making peace with Conservatives as presenters shocked Poilievre continues to critique Liberals
Plus! The Prime Minister is sleeping with a Eurasia Group employee but media still refuse to tell us who they are. And! Iqualuit schools big city media on standards
As with most media, the period following an election should be a time for reflection, self-analysis and, where needed, fence-mending.
Passions, after all, are elevated during campaigns. Post modern Machiavellis are at their manipulative peaks. Spinners spin and spin. So, afterwards, within newsrooms, editors and their ground troops should be asking “did we get it right?”
If not, where did the self-styled defenders of democracy get it wrong? What, if any, of the many yarns pitched their way suckered them into passing along what turned out to be lies as the truth? Are there stories still out there that remain untold?
The CBC should be mopping its brow, muttering “whew” and vowing to never, ever allow itself to be viewed as so irredeemably biased that more than 40 percent of voting Canadians were comfortable killing it. That, after all, was the vote tally for the Conservatives, who called for the defunding of CBC’s English language service.
Unless it’s betting on Canada’s conversion into a one-party state, the CBC should be working to prove that it is not, as so many obviously believe, a Liberal Pravda pouring endless hours of soft left sludge down the nation’s throat.
But the death wish marches on. As popular Winnipeg podcaster Jasmin Laine pointed out last week, CBC appears more interested in revenge than redemption. Indeed, in a breathtaking two-minute clip that you can watch here, hosts Rosemary Barton and David Cochrane appear disgusted that Pierre Poilievre continued to behave like an Opposition Leader and criticize the government.
As Laine put it, “In 2 minutes, CBC insults Pierre Poilievre, mocks him, defends Carney’s cabinet picks and reminds us how unbiased they are. Weasels… but they did just get a big payday from the Liberals, so get ready for even more of this!”
Thus did the road to redemption get a lot bumpier.
The payday Laine refers to is the additional $150 million that Carney promised would be coming the CBC’s way should he win the election, which he did. The CBC’s head of news, Brodie Fenlon, agreed during the campaign that Carney’s dangle represented a conflict of interest, something which one would have expected to be reinforced with staff.
If it was, it obviously didn’t work. I get tipped on a lot of stuff about the CBC. Most of it, while not necessarily a great fit from my perspective, nevertheless passes muster from a professional point of view. The bias is more likely to be found in what isn’t there than what is. But this petulant display went far beyond what anyone could term fair. The presenters were clearly offended by Poilievre’s tone and, in their view, insolent ungratefulness to the fact Carney vowed “no games” to delay the byelection required for the Conservative leader to reclaim a seat in the House of Commons. CBC staff should not be reacting like Liberal partisans angry that despite being defeated, Poilievre still dares to walk the earth and criticize Carney’s decisions.
Later in the week, apparently in the belief her decision would ease a longstanding criticism, CBC President Marie-Philippe Bouchard announced an end to managerial bonuses. Those who continue to permit performances like the one described above will, instead, just have their salaries adjusted to a bonus-inclusive level. Indeed.
Speaking of missed opportunities and unfinished business, I remain discouraged and puzzled that we still don’t know a lot about the Eurasia Group, even though the Prime Minister sleeps with one of its employees - his wife - Diana Fox. Its vice chair, Gerald Butts, was at Carney’s side throughout the campaign and Evan Solomon, who was running Eurasia’s publishing arm, is now Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.
Eurasia Group may be the kindest, most caring corporation going. Or it may not be. We don’t know and media in almost any other country would have examined the matter long ago and checked to see if other parties have similarly close ties. All we know is that Eurasia Group’s chair, Ian Bremner, accurately predicted that, when it came to dealing with US President Donald Trump, "Ottawa will quietly fold shortly after the vote to ensure that ongoing relations with the US remain functional."
Perhaps Bremner was just paying attention to the fact that, even before calling the election, Canada had already backed away from the tough guy strategy. Perhaps not.
Regardless, it wasn’t until last week that National Post reported that “Elbows Up” retaliatory tariffs were now “almost zero” as Carney was taking a “strategic” approach.
Given that only weeks ago the same fellow was promising to crush Trump “avec une force écrasante!” (crushing force) it seems reasonable to expect news organizations to wonder whether this wasn’t the plan all along and consider whether they were duped.
Solomon. meanwhile, received hearty congrats from former media colleagues such as Don Martin. It’s a small, cozy world on Parliament Hill.
The Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife has apologized for, in reference to Poilievre’s travails, saying on CBCNN that “a lot of people were saying ‘we like some of the policies you’re doing, but we think your leader is a dick’.”
The remark solicited a fit of manly giggles from the Power & Politics host who has apparently been spoken to. At least we know CBC takes a firm stand against dicks and giggles.
Speaking of the Globe, it may have a set a new record in an analysis of the apparently hush-hush complexities of picking a Finance Minister, using seven - count ‘em - unnamed sources. (Peter Stockland will have more on this in the next couple of days).
Meanwhile, the Nunatsiaq News in Iqualuit - God bless them - recently came out with a cracking editorial denouncing the widespread use of unnamed sources:
“In the past 10 years, national news organizations have become increasingly comfortable using unnamed sources.… When news outlets do that, it amounts to saying, “trust us,” while the journalistic tradition has been like high school math class - “show your work.”
“It’s important for readers to know the source of information reported to them. Readers can then decide for themselves how much credibility to give it, how important it is, and how trustworthy both the source and the news organization are.”
Thank you, Corey Larocque and the Nunatsiaq News for standing firm while others wobble.
(Peter Menzies is a commentator and consultant on media, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow, a past publisher of the Calgary Herald, a former vice chair of the CRTC and a National Newspaper Award winner.)
Good article Peter. I think Canada is likely a one party state now. The CBC disgusts me with their arrogant tone and overt smugness. I would seriously look at leaving the country for good if I was 15 years younger. We never had to worry about becoming the 51st state because we are already aligned with China.
The Eurasia group has been and still is a convienent place for the Liberals to run their PMO from. The same people pushing the same policies that got Canada where we are under Trudeau.