Trudeau Heritage Ministry hush on $61 MILLION in re-election 'emergency relief' to media

Canada’s heritage department continues to refuse naming publishers awarded nearly $61 million in pre-election "emergency relief." The grants were to ensure readers receive "timely information they require from their government," wrote Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in a letter to MPs.

"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 Guilbeault in a July 21 letter to the Commons heritage committee. The letter did not elaborate on links between subsidies and coverage of cabinet announcements, reported Blacklocks.

The letter referenced unnamed publishers as "emergency support" provided through an existing heritage department program called Aid To Publishers. The grants were in addition to annual subsidies already paid, including proceeds from a $595 million media bailout approved by Parliament in 2018.

Despite the massive subsidy, staff counted a continued net loss of thousands of jobs. The findings contradict what publishers said, who claimed increased readership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The decrease in advertising revenues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to service reductions and newspaper closures resulting in the loss of more than 2500 jobs," said a briefing note Improving Federal Support For Journalism. The department said it knew of "the hiring of 342 journalists" but only because wages were subsidized 100 percent under a $50 million Local Journalism Initiative.

In recent years, 41 daily newspapers have disappeared, and 10,000 jobs have been lost, indicating a "crisis" for the struggling industry.

The department said in a statement that the $61 million in relief helps address some of the gaps that have been identified by the industry. Staff would not answer repeated requests for names of publishers and the amounts they received under the ad hoc program called Emergency Support For Cultural Industries.

"The abrupt, unanticipated and destabilizing effect of the COVID pandemic has served to exacerbate financial pressures on the industry at a time when access to reliable news is perhaps more important than ever," wrote Guilbeault.

The grants were intended for magazine and weekly newspaper publishers. "We remain committed to supporting the long-term vitality of the sector," wrote Guilbeault.

Periodicals in Canada are already heavily subsidized. Bayard Presse Canada Inc. of Toronto, publisher of children’s magazines like Chickadee, received $1.35 million on April 1. The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, publisher of Ontario Out Of Doors, received $568,703. OP Media Group Ltd. of Vancouver, publisher of Pacific Yachting magazine, received $251,999. The Halifax publisher of Frank Magazine was paid $109,594.

Other subsidies included $1,473,363 to the publisher of Reader’s Digest, a total of $1,354,619 for The Western Producer of Saskatoon, a total of $1,166,408 to Maclean’s magazine, a total of $1,073,549 to Canadian House & Home and $1,007,018 to Chatelaine magazine.

An $817,081 grant was paid on April 1 to Ontario Farmer. Subsidies worth $720,241 were given to Canadian Geographic magazine, and $570,794 to Toronto Life.

The Catholic Register received $503,475 in subsidies, separate from $346,369 given to The B.C. Catholic, a periodical published by the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Cottage Life received $407,457. Fashion magazine was awarded $379,662.