Life moves too fast for media who happily credit only one guy for plunge in prices at the pump
CBC most professional while Global went full blown Carney fan when it came to carbon tax reduction coverage
Life, as Ferris Bueller famously warned us, moves pretty fast.
That’s why it’s suddenly hard to remember when the consumer carbon tax was the only thing standing between humanity and its self-immolation. Or, even more recently, when political life was about either saving the planet or letting the oceans boil.
The tax was one of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s signature items, a legacy he was determined to defend and one about which his caucus spoke with pride. New Liberal leader Mark Carney, a huge believer in carbon taxes, had suggested in the past that Canada’s should be even higher than it was. But Trudeau’s version, with a huge hike scheduled for April 1, proved to be so unpopular it hovered menacingly over the Liberal party and its election chances.
Somewhat more in touch with the people on this point - as he threatened to be on a number of topics - Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre built a huge lead in the polls with his promise to eliminate it. And then, as proof the Liberals don’t shame easily, if at all, Carney made the problem go away with a dramatic stroke of the pen in a staged event most media fell for.
Yes, it’s probably not fair to expect reporters in the Parliamentary Press Gallery to understand the machinery of government, but there you have it.
Carney did not, of course, eliminate the consumer carbon tax - the legislation lives on. What he did was reduce it to zero percent - for now. So, it will or it won’t come back. Carney says it will shift to producers, which means gas prices probably go back up and consumers will still pay, except this time there will be no rebates. Poilievre says, more or less, how could you possibly trust people who, when it came down to a choice between what they once said was necessary to keep the world from burning and retaining their power, chose the latter.
With that in mind, I took a look at media coverage to see which journalists gave credit to whom for the emasculation of the carbon tax. The guy who made it happen - Poilievre - or the guy who, as he appears prone to do, took credit for other people’s efforts: Carney?
CTV News produced a report in the Maritimes - Major drop in maritime gas prices after consumer carbon tax removal - that avoided politics entirely. No politicians were named. Smart.
Somewhat similarly, the Vancouver Sun, with its B.C. gas prices fall carbon tax killed report, focused on consumers and the only politician mentioned was B.C. Premier David Eby. Smart.
Then it got tricky. The Toronto Star stayed on brand with an analysis and a “Mark Carney kills the carbon tax” headline introducing an analysis that professionally mentioned Poilievre’s role in the demise of Trudeau’s bequest. Still, unnecessary bias in the headline.
I could not find a news report specific to the gas prices and the carbon tax on the National Post website, which may be conservative bias by omission. Or a bad search tool.
Canadian Press, in a report picked up by the Globe and Mail and many others, topped with a consumer angle and ignored the Conservatives’ role completely while noting without context that: “One of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first actions when he took office last month was to do away with the consumer carbon charge….” Strong Liberal bias.
CBC News topped its report by immediately mentioning Carney but placed the issue in full context and mentioned Poilievre in the fourth paragraph. It is also the only report I found that mentions that “eligible” Canadians will still be receiving their rebate cheques April 15, which means “eligible”” media” won’t be the only ones cashing cheques made possible by government legislation during this election campaign. Of the reports I reviewed, CBC’s was the most complete. Well done.
It was left to Global News in Winnipeg to deliver the most biased report in my search. Apparently unaware of its own journalism standards, it shamelessly led with what could have been a Liberal Party news release:
“Drivers across the country will get a break at the pumps as of Tuesday with the end of the consumer carbon tax, thanks to one of the first moves made by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he took office.”
There was no mention of background, the Conservatives, Poilievre or even when Carney took office or how. At the bottom of that link, readers can find another gateway to Global’s journalistic principles and practices which state:
“Our primary directive is to report accurate, balanced, timely and comprehensive news and information in the public interest.”
Fair to say that story failed with a capital F.
But nothing was quite so noticeable last week as the contrast between the coverage of “Carney’s” carbon tax counterpoise and the media's response when Alberta Premier Jason Kenney eliminated Alberta’s consumer carbon tax in 2019.
“As Alberta Burns, Jason Kenney Repeals Carbon Tax.” screamed the headline above a stirring lede paragraph:
“On Thursday, as out-of-control wildfires swept Alberta, prompting evacuations, air quality alerts, and apocalyptic images, Jason Kenney made good on an election promise to repeal the province’s carbon tax.”
And so, the world burns.
Please check out The Rewrite this week and TheHub.ca where you can get more coverage of media and don’t forget to catch this week’s The Full Press podcast.
I remember hearing Marx Carnage complaining not long before coming back to save Canada, that the only problem with Trudeau’s carbon tax was that it wasn’t high enough to do the job. Now, either that was some kind of auditory hallucination, or he’s gaslighting us.
"...or the guy who, as he appears prone to do, took credit for other people’s efforts: Carney?" Ouch!