Tag Archives: Sun Media

Brilliance from the CBC

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Running a nation-wide advertising campaign telling people that you’re transparent: Priceless

Sun Media’s Brian Lilley reports:

Under attack for its lack of transparency and accountability, the CBC has taken out expensive ads in newspapers across Canada, promising Canadians that they will be up-front with information.A series of reports this week from QMI Agency have highlighted the CBC’s refusal to release information under the Access to Information Act, and their ongoing court battle with the Information Commissioner, an independent officer of Parliament over who gets to see those documents.

While the ad boasts of tens of thousands of pages released under Access to Information, it fails to mention that tens of thousands of pages have also been released with all relevant information removed, the result being either blank pages or pages covered in black marker.

The CBC continues to claim exemptions under sections designed to protect their journalistic activities or protect the government on issues vital to the economic interests of Canada. As a result, they refuse to answer simple questions such as how many trucks the state broadcaster owns.

[...]

The key phrase is “Documents of interest,” meaning CBC will decide what they release, and what they don’t, for the public to view.

A review of what has been posted on the CBC website shows that hundreds of access requests have been left off the site for now, including expense reports for CBC president Hubert Lacroix. The 110 blank pages supplied to QMI for expenses by board member Louise Lantagne, and the cost of honorariums provided to board members, are also missing.

Lilley also adds that because “CBC spends public dollars and is therefore accountable to the public. That should mean full accountability, including the cost of these ads.” He’s absolutely right. The CBC has a lot to offer as a broadcaster, and as a business (Lord knows to whom, however.) It’s quite simple though: If there was a market for what the CBC offered, it could hold its own in the free market. No private corporations could get away with witholding information like the CBC did. Heck, even the military has a hard time getting away with blacking out that many pages of important documents.

There may have been a time where the CBC was required, but that time has certainly passed.

What George Soros Doesn't Want You To Know

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One of the things that any figure in politics has dealt with is worrying about things from their past propping up. These skeletons can be anything from cheating on a spouse to cheating on your taxes; stealing from your company, or stealing lunch money from your classmates. In the case of billionare George Soros, his skeletons involve working with the Nazis when they took over Hungary in 1944.

As Ari and I mentioned on the last episode of Strictly Right Radio, Soros is suing Canadian author, lawyer and freedom fighter Ezra Levant over a passage in a column that Levant wrote for the Sun Media Chain in response to one of George Soros’ organizations trying to thwart a Canadian media outlet, Sun TV News from starting up in Canada. The passage that Soros found most objectionable was most likely this one:

When the Nazis took total control of Hungary in 1944, the Holocaust followed. In two months, 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps.

To survive, George, then a teenager, collaborated with the Nazis.

First he worked for the Judenrat. That was the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to do their dirty work for them. Instead of the Nazis rounding up Jews every day for the trains, they delegated that murderous task to Jews who were willing to do it to survive another day at the expense of their neighbours.

Theodore hatched a better plan for his son. He bribed a non-Jewish official at the agriculture ministry to let George live with him. George helped the official confiscate property from Jews.

By collaborating with the Nazis, George survived the Holocaust. He turned on other Jews to spare himself.

Pretty harsh words, huh? That would be horrible if Levant made that stuff up. Fortunately, he was just taking this bit of Soros’ past from stuff Georgie boy himself said in an interview on 60 Minutes in 1998. When pressed further, he even offered up this gem, “I had no sense of guilt.”

What Soros’ goons have to gain from wanting to stop a politically incorrect news network from forming in Canada is beyond me. Avaaz.org has been a known shell organization for various liberal causes, with no reason to be in Canada. I wonder if thwarting conservative efforts abroad is just to counter the boredom that Soros is facing with no Nazis to collaborate with.

Lilley: Is the Tea Party movement Canada-bound?

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UPDATE: Join the Tea Party Movement of Canada on Facebook!

I’d sure say so! From Sun Media:

OTTAWA – Are Canadians getting fed up with government regulations, rules and taxes? The man behind an attempt to start a Tea Party movement in Canada hopes so.

This past weekend hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to Washington for a rally about taking back their country. They came to hear speakers such as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, and although not explicitly a Tea Party event, the crowd drew many from the movement that calls for government to get government off the backs of hard working people.

Andrew Lawton wants to bring that spirit to Canada.

Lawton, a conservative-leaning activist from London, Ont., is one of the organizers behind an online attempt to start a Tea Party movement in Canada.

Starting with a Facebook group, Lawton says there are plans for rallies this fall in Ottawa and Quebec City. Other cities may be added.

There are differences between the two countries Lawton acknowledges but adds the basis of the movement is the same.

“The issues differ but the ideology stays the same. Advocating for smaller government, freedom and letting people live their own lives.”

“One person came up to me recently and said that freedom is an American value,” said Lawton. “That’s not true. It’s an attitude I want to change.”

[Continued here].

People on both sides of the political spectrum have expressed skepticism about the idea of a Tea Party Movement in Canada. Those on the Left think that it’s an avenue for fascist, racist, right-wingers to spout their hatred. Even some on the right are too worried about the “optics” of utilizing an American concept to advocate for Canadian values. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, conservatism and liberty are not American concepts; they are basic, fundamental truths that people in any country should embrace.

A prominent Canadian Conservative Party blogger and I had an exchange this afternoon where he was suggesting it be called something else. Why? People know and understand what the Tea Party movements stands for. As Kathy Shaidle said, “I envision the usual Canadian ‘conserv.’ bores/wonks bickering about terminolgy as excuse to avoid action.”

Stay tuned for some big announcements in the coming weeks!!