Prejudice in some media reports leans Canada’s political competition and constitutes the “most difficult thing” to tackle in political life, Conservative Interim Leader Candice Bergen said. Says.
“I’ve been doing this for 14 years, and the hardest thing I’m dealing with on a regular basis is the fact that the mainstream media, Press Gallery, is in Ottawa, but not all. Many of them are really just the Liberal Party’s communications department, “Bergen told The Epoch Times in an interview on May 9.
Instead of asking the current administration for an explanation, Bergen said, “They are doing a very good job. [the] Opposite to the account. “
“We don’t mind being asked tough questions, we don’t mind disagreeing with our policies, but we just want to get a fair shake,” she said. Said.
Bergen hinted at the loyalty of some stores affected by media grants, but suggested that the relationship was not only economical but also personal.
“”[In] Often they are friends, spending vacations together and spending time together. So that’s just the fact that we had to deal with it as a Conservative Party, “she said.
In 2018, the federal government announced a five-year, $ 595 million package to support the country’s media industry, as well as other support programs worth tens of millions of funding.
Bergen said in recent years that her party has benefited from the growth of independent and social media where MPs can communicate directly with Canadians.
“Legacy media, corporate media, whatever you want to call it, I think they are becoming more and more irrelevant every day,” she said.
The slogan “Defund the CBC” was touted among some candidates in the course of the Conservative leadership campaign, but Bergen hinted that it would go further by abolishing media subsidies.
“We look forward to the day we win the government. If the media can’t compete, we won’t get a lot of money from the government,” she said.
In Canada, media outlets must be approved by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a “Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization” (QCJO) in order to be eligible for federal tax credits and other programs. Part of the process is done by the government. -Appoint an independent advisory board.
Last month, independent media Rebel News announced bring the action After the CRA was denied QCJO status because it did not create the “original news content”.
follow
Noé Charter is a Montreal-based Epoch Times reporter.