Check It Out: Canadians - be on guard!
By Joan Janzen
A youngster slouched on the sofa talking to his buddy on the phone said, “I can’t use the computer right now cause my dad’s busy scrolling down to his birth date.”
Speaking of scrolling, the folks at True North scrolled through 68 stories by CBC this past month, all of which were dedicated to US presidential candidate Kamala Harris, while Trudeau was mentioned a scant 18 times during the same period. It’s not clear how coverage of Harris benefits Canadians, or maybe it’s a distraction. And isn’t the CBC’s mandate to reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences?
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa from True North speculated whether CBC deserves the $1.4 billion they receive annually from taxpayers. To put it in perspective, that amount would fund the construction of 1000 houses.
Ryan Thorpe from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reported that $18.4 million in bonuses has been rubber-stamped for 1200 CBC staff this year. Also, in 2024, 45 CBC executives received bonuses equivalent to $73,000 each. This bonus amount exceeds the average salary of Canadians, is funded by taxpayers, and has more than doubled under the present federal government.
Franco Terrazzano from CTF said, “The bonuses are just the tip of the iceberg.” Last year, there were 1,450 CBC staffers with a base salary of $100,000 or more, compared to 438 in 2015.
The federal government has also added 108,000 new employees during the past nine years. According to CTF, the federal bureaucracy now consumes more than half of the government’s day-to-day spending. Their spending allowance is gleaned from everyday Canadians who are finding nearly half of their income is going towards taxes.
But let’s not forget about the Senate. The CTF’s Taxpayer Waste Watch reported the cost of running the Senate has increased by 81 percent since Trudeau was first elected. Their projected spending for this year is $134.8 million plus $7.2 million for personal expenses to top off their salaries which range from $178,000 to $275,000 per year. And don’t forget about their pensions.
Ryan from Northern Perspective asked Franco what he thought about the government blaming corporations for the increasing food prices. Franco responded, “A law of economics is - more money printed out of thin air by the government leads to higher prices.”
“If the government is so concerned about corporations getting rich, why don’t they make rich corporations pay for their own factories? But wait a minute Trudeau announced tens of millions of dollars for Volkswagen, Honda and others to build EV battery factories.”
Franco reasoned that if you’re an entrepreneur, you invest your own money and also suffer the loss if things don’t go well, so you have the incentive to be very smart about your investments. “But if you’re in government, you don’t have that incentive because you’re not spending your own money,” he added.
After crunching the numbers, he concluded, “The only way a new government would be able to fix the budget and cut taxes would be to shrink the bureaucracy in Ottawa.” He assured listeners this would inevitably result in backlash from government union bosses, environmental groups and big corporation lobby groups.
Meanwhile, Stephen LeDrew’s three-minute interview with former Liberal MP Dan McTeague was very revealing. He believes the only hope of salvation the NDP and Liberals have of not being annihilated in the next election is to pinpoint certain ridings.
“So they’ll say you have a good chance of winning this riding, so we’re not going to run here?” Stephen quizzed his guest. Dan said they could do what Macron did in France when he withdrew candidates in certain areas, and other parties did the exact same thing.
“It means a coalition among the NDP, Green Party and Liberals in certain ridings,” he explained. “My way of thinking is the Green Party has become irrelevant, the NDP will simply align with the Liberals and it will become the new Liberal party.”
“The only ones denying this right now are those who are not watching, and they better be very careful because it fits right into the narrative,” he warned.
Stephen’s response was that it would be completely unprincipled, and have nothing to do with policy or good government.
Franco from CTF advised Canadians to be on their guard. You have to push back with your advocacy. You have to send emails and letters, make phone calls, talk to your MP. Canadians need to say ‘enough is enough’,” he warned.
The lyrics of our national anthem, “Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee,” are more applicable today than at any time in the past.