Colin
Send an urgent message to Canadian legislators urging them to stop more online censorship laws
(LifeSiteNews) –– Recently disclosed records have revealed that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) spent over a quarter of a million dollars tasking employees to create “news” reports, some of which were published by Canadian media.
The scheme was uncovered via a recent Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in Canada’s Senate by Conservative Senator Donald Plett, who asked alongside the information, “How much did the Government of Canada pay to publish news written by government employees?”
In response to the Inquiry, the CRA said that “The purpose of these articles was to inform Canadians,” adding that they were written to “help amplify its messaging in order to reach Canadians that it would not normally have access to through its own channels.”
The articles were published in at least two large Canadian daily newspapers, the Lethbridge Herald and the Hamilton Spectator, as well as multiple periodicals and weekly newspapers, including, the Alberta Business Review, Niagara Falls Review, the Essex Free Press, Ethnic Food & Drink, Lac Ste. Anne Bulletin, Lambton Standard, and Leamington Southpoint Sun.
The “news” reports were distributed through a Toronto broker, News Canada Inc., who was paid some $233,457 last year alone by the CRA.
The records show that some of the “news” articles cost as much as $1,000 each.
When it comes to the federal definition of “fake news,” the ghostwritten articles meet the threshold. According to a 2017 Department of Canadian Heritage Memorandum To The Minister, included in the definition of fake news is anything that could be considered “state-sponsored.”
According to the Access to Information memo, creators of “fake news” are “non-traditional sources, i.e. not journalists, individuals on social media, individuals not preoccupied with facts.”
“Characteristics of fake news,” notes the memo, include content that is “quick to create and share, and are not constrained by research or fact-checking.”
The memo said that the “issue is complex and there is not likely one single, easy solution,” and that “[t]here are limitations to actions that governments can take, e.g. cannot decide what is fake news.”
“Access to accurate information from diverse perspectives underpins our democratic institutions,” said the memo.
At the same time the CRA was writing and submitting “news” reports to media, the current Canadian federal government under Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was busy enacting laws restricting how Canadians access news from alternative sources.
Last year, Bill C-18, also called the Online News Act, become law. As a result, Canadians were blocked from viewing and sharing news on Facebook and Instagram.
At the same time, Trudeau has pumped billions into propping up the mostly state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as well as large payouts for legacy media outlets ahead of the 2025 federal election. In total, the subsidies are expected to cost taxpayers $129 million over the next five years.
Despite the interplay of the state in media, Trudeau has claimed that Canadians must continue subsidizing the CBC and others to “protect our democracy.”
While the CBC got billions in taxpayer money, the same Trudeau government, at times, has gone after independent media.
Earlier this year, independent Canadian media outlet Rebel News announced they were suing the federal government and five Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers for an alleged “pattern of intimidation and exclusion against Rebel News journalists” after its lead reporter, David Menzies, was arrested after he tried to ask Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland questions on a public street.
