Earlier this week, Elon Musk slapped a “government-funded media” label on the state-owned CBC Twitter account, prompting an angry response from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau and CBC complained the label was accurate because the CBC was only 70 percent government funded, while the remaining funding was taken from other revenue sources, presumably advertising.
The Canadian leader, worried his propaganda machine had been exposed, tried to blame both Musk and Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for the label.
Trudeau raged at Musk claiming the CBC was an “independent media organization.”
“I think it says a lot about the Conservative Party of Canada. They’re choosing to constantly attack independent media organizations, journalists who are working hard to keep Canadians informed and support our democracy,” Trudeau said.
However, as we reported on Monday, CBC is a Crown corporation “wholly owned by the state but operated at arm’s length from government,” the outlet states. The publication also boasts in its Twitter bio that it is “Funded by and serving all Canadians.”
Every year, the CBC enjoys $1.2 billion in taxpayer funding.
CBC was so angry about its accurate designation it halted its use of Twitter, arguing the label “undermines its credibility.”
CBC’s media relations director, Leon Mar, issued a statement saying the broadcaster’s independence being “falsely” labeled is undermining their work.
Trudeau concurred, accusing Musk and the Conservatives of “attacking” the CBC by accurately labeling them as state-funded.
Trudeau also claimed that Poilievre had “run to American billionaires” to go after the CBC.
Musk responded to Trudeau’s complaint, hilariously suggesting that a 70 percent government-funded label would be more accurate. He later slapped them with the label.
“Their concern has been addressed,” Musk said.
In response to a Twitter account suggesting the label should be 69 percent to “give them the benefit of the doubt,” Musk agreed and promptly applied the label.
“Good point,” he said, “generosity is always the right move. 69% it is!”
All tweets from the CBC now reflect this label.
Poilievre replied to the labeling, saying, “There. Now everyone is happy.”
Twitter defines “government-funded media” as “outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.”
Last week, Musk had a similar exchange with news outlet NPR, which he also slapped with the ‘government funded’ label.
Sharing an email from an NPR reporter, the outlet confirmed it had deleted 50+ Twitter accounts since being slapped with the label.
But Musk responded by pointing out that NPR admits to federal funding on THEIR OWN WEBSITE!
READ: Elon Musk Issues Warning to Americans as Biden’s Economy Teeters on Brink of Depression
A large percentage of conservative minded Canadians see the CBC as the propaganda arm of the Canadian government – as long as the Canadian government of the day is the Liberal party. And that propaganda arm acting as the sword and shield of the Liberal Party is funded with their taxes.
An Angus Reid poll conducted March 15, 2022 found that 64% of Canadians supported cutting CBC off from the government taxpayer t*t and telling them to have a go at it funding themselves. Even 34% of Liberals approved of that.
So first, clearly the CBC is not seen by a huge majority of Canadians as being a media entity that serves all Canadians in an unbiased manner. Nor does that majority agree that CBC’s programming is worth being supported with their tax dollars.
Trudeau’s comments on the CBC are a reminder of why he also does not have the support of Canadians – the only reason he is in power after each election where he fails to win a majority in Parliament is because the NDP is in a devil’s agreement with him. The NDP leader agrees to order his MPs to vote with the Liberals on bills, and to pay for their votes to keep himself in power, Trudeau agrees to include pork and entitlement in spending and policy bills that the NDP can’t otherwise get because they have no chance of ever winning an election.
And thus, neither the CBC nor Trudeau can survive on their own. The CBC needs to be propped up by Liberals redistributing the wealth of taxpayer money. Trudeau cannot survive without using the same taxpayer money to buy NDP cooperation – and fund the CBC to be his sword and shield