The Liberal government will not reveal the names of Canadian publishers who benefited from nearly $61 million in subsidies advertised as “emergency relief.”
Media outlets were given the subsidies on top of substantial federal support already offered to them through the $600 million bailout fund passed by the Liberals in 2018. Additionally, publishers can also apply to receive funding through the Canada Periodical Fund.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a July 21 letter to the House of Commons heritage committee makes no mention of the media companies’ identities.
“These measures demonstrate the government’s commitment to both a robust, diverse and sustainable news ecosystem and ensuring Canadians can receive the timely information they require from their government,” wrote Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault.
The letter revealed that numerous organizations were showered with $60.8 million in taxpayer funds to convey so-called “timely information (readers) require from their government.”
When pressed on revealing the names of the publishers and how much they received, Canadian Heritage staff would not disclose that information.
To date, left-wing progressive outlets like The Narwhal and others have been showered with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. In March of this year, it was revealed that The Narwhal was awarded $355,000 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Additionally, the legacy media company FP Newspapers Inc. received $6.2 million in taxpayer funds from the Liberal government.
The Trudeau government has also indicated it would seek to give additional funding for the CBC, which already receives well over one billion taxpayer dollars despite continuously losing advertising revenues and viewership.
