Blacklock's Reporter

Subsidized media today are so self-pitying it is no surprise they missed the biggest scoop of their lives, the death of subsidized media. Spy the columns and TV punditry and you encounter the same excuses. It was Russian bots or internet poaching of Chevrolet dealer ads or misinformation or Instagram micro-shocks or inflation. It was always someone else’s fault. Tara Henley, podcaster and former CBC producer, gets the answers. “If media want to restore public trust, we have to examine our own actions,” she writes. “Unpacking our role is essential for making sense of the crisis in media.” “Most people do not distrust the media for vague, rote reasons but instead for achingly specific ones,” writes Henley. “Indeed, they frequently cite the specific wording in the specific stories that they believe falls short.” Canadians do not expect infallibility. They expect hard work and honesty. It is not too much to ask. The Trust Spiral notes the descent of media under withering scrutiny blew wide open in the pandemic, an "overheated moment." READ MORE

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “sovereign wealth fund” will cost taxpayers $750 million a year in debt interest charges, finance department figures show. The estimate yesterday followed criticism the $25 billion Canada Strong Fund was not a savings account: "It’s actually a debt fund." READ MORE

Labour department managers yesterday could not corroborate Minister Patty Hajdu's story that a medical emergency justified quashing a legal 2025 strike by Air Canada flight attendants. Hajdu denied making it up though Access To Information records showed Air Canada’s worry was over lost tourism fares, not life-saving organ transplants: "Was it actually true?" READ MORE

The equivalent of a tenth of Greater Toronto Area residents now eat at a food bank, the CEO of the city’s Daily Bread Food Bank yesterday testified at the Commons finance committee. Many recipients work full time, he said: "Staggering." READ MORE

Being a “good person” does not excuse a taxpayer from a justifiable audit, says a Tax Court judge. The remarks came in the latest appeals by participants in what the Canada Revenue called one of the largest tax shelter schemes in the country: "They simply made the same stale arguments." READ MORE

Shoplifting has become a flashpoint for public disorder and organized crime that is costing consumers billions, Conservative MP Chak Au (Richmond Centre-Marpole, B.C.) yesterday told the Commons public safety committee. “Shoplifting has become a national crisis,” he said. READ MORE

The Senate concealed hundreds of thousands of postcards mailed by Canadians opposed to a cabinet bill, the chair of the budget committee confirmed yesterday. Senator Tony Loffreda (Que.), a Liberal appointee, denied any trickery: "This decision was not made to silence anyone." READ MORE