OTTAWA – In a blistering moment of raw frustration that exposed the rotten core of Ottawa’s accountability theater, the chair of the House of Commons ethics committee didn’t mince words with the press gallery yesterday. Conservative MP John Brassard (Barrie South-Innisfil), who chairs the ETHI committee, told reporters point-blank to “do your goddamn job” after the Liberal cabinet moved aggressively to quash committee scrutiny of government spending and high-level appointments.
Brassard didn’t stop there. He laid it out for anyone still pretending Canadian media operates independently: the press is so “Liberal-friendly” that the Opposition is held to a far greater standard of accountability than the government itself.
This wasn’t some fringe rant. It was the chair of the very committee tasked with probing ethics violations watching the government neuter oversight in real time – while the subsidized media class largely shrugged.
Here’s the ugly truth the “paid press” won’t tell you straight: For years, the Liberal government has funneled over $1.4 billion in direct subsidies, tax credits, and advertising dollars into Canadian newsrooms through programs like the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit, Canada Periodical Fund, Local Journalism Initiative, and massive ongoing funding to the CBC (now north of $1.2 billion annually). Current and former editors have testified before Parliament that seven years of these subsidies have “permanently compromised” media independence. Newsrooms now rely on government cash to survive – and the hand that feeds them gets suspiciously gentle coverage.
Recent testimony at the Commons heritage committee hammered it home: the industry is “no longer independent” – it’s dependent. Government departments even tried linking media accreditation to these subsidized “Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization” lists, creating a two-tier system that favored outlets on the Liberal dole.
Meanwhile, the ethics committee was digging into real scandals – including conflicts involving the Finance Minister and high-profile projects like the Alto high-speed rail – before the cabinet pulled the plug by seizing majority control of committees. The pattern is unmistakable: block the probes, rely on your funded friends in the press to downplay it, and let the Opposition bleed under relentless scrutiny.
Canadians have noticed. Polls consistently show massive majorities believe government funding undermines journalistic objectivity. Yet the machine grinds on – because a compliant media is the best insurance policy a scandal-plagued government can buy.
This isn’t journalism. It’s a taxpayer-funded protection racket. And yesterday, the ethics chair finally called it out.
The Canadian public deserves better than a captured press corps running interference for the very government that writes their cheques.
