On April 17, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lamented that his Conservative opponent, Pierre Poilievre, took to Twitter to seek help from American billionaires to tackle the problem CBC/Radio Canada. On the sidelines of announcing a $470 million partnership with Swedish communications giant Ericsson, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Poilievre accused of using an American multinational to attack Canadian institutions.

Pressure from the Conservatives

On April 16, Pierre Poilievre welcomed the decision by the social network Twitter to label CBC’s institutional account “state-funded media”. The Conservative Leader had made a public request to the American social network a few days earlier. He also offered netizens a web link in his Twitter post that led to an online petition to cut public funds CBC and from Radio Canada.

On April 17 in the House of Commons, MP and former Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer reiterated that petition, welcoming Twitter’s decision. “Good news for anyone who was upset with Twitter’s decision to put the label on! We will take care of that after the next election [CBC/Radio-Canada] does not receive any public funding!‘ he quipped.

Founded in 1936, the Canadian public broadcaster would, according to Conservatives, be a transmission belt for the propaganda of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. However, Twitter management did not consider it appropriate to place the mention of government-funded media on Radio-Canada’s institutional account, which is the same company as CBC. For Prime Minister Trudeau, this conservative strategy is a direct attack on journalism and Canadian culture, carried out in partnership with an American internet giant.

“We know that Radio-Canada/CBC has a presence across the country in small communities, small towns and regions less served by other news organizationsremembers the prime minister. I find it really sad to see a political party attack independent media.” “Pierre Poilievre claims he wants to attack CBC without attacking Radio-Canada. It’s totally wrongJustin Trudeau continues. You can’t trust the Conservatives […]who regularly attack journalism that is independent of culture, identity and quality.“

Risky ideological crusade

For the leaders of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, Pierre Poilievre and Elon Musk – the big boss of Twitter – have launched a risky ideological crusade by attacking one of the most important sources of French-speaking culture and information in the country. Appreciated that on his Twitter account Radio Canada Info is not beyond reproach and believes the Crown Corporation displays a federalist leaning, the bloc leader has openly worried about the Conservatives’ desire to cut funding.

It is very serious for art, information and French in the regions, declared Yves-François Blanchet on his Twitter account, questioning the intentions of the Conservatives. On the fringes of Question Time in the House of Commons, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh condemned the actions of his Conservative counterpart. “It is an attack on journalists and an attack on the culture of Quebec and Canada. he throws. [Pierre Poilievre] is someone who is afraid to answer questions! He is not one who has the strength or courage to lead the country.“

They keep saying they want to defund CBC but not Radio-Canada… Maybe because Radio-Canada is more popular in Quebec? Maybe because it would hurt their chances of winning more seats in Quebec and French-speaking countries? Maybe that’s their calculation, because otherwise it makes no sense, for his part, Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP lieutenant for Quebec, started.

A “dishonest and malicious” approach

For his part, former Director General of Information at Radio-Canada, Alain Saulnier, sees something in Pierre Poilievre’s approach “dishonest and malicious“.

Above all, Alain Saulnier starts at the microphone world time At ICI premiere, Conservative leader uses this crusade”to get money and fill his electoral fund” in view of the next federal election. The Conservative Party’s petition webpage to defund the public broadcaster is actually asking the public to make a donation and give their contact details to this political party.

Furthermore, Alain Saulnier believes that even if Twitter only reaches 10% of the population and putting a label on the CBC account might ultimately have limited effect, this accusation against the media is part of a whole:It comforts people who attack the state, public institutions“, he says. Trusting American multi-billionaires to determine what is good and what is bad in our media is completely absurd, Mr. Saulnier still judges.

runaway 24•60 on the waves ofHERE RDIFor his part, law professor and jurist Pierre Trudel recalled that the independence of public service broadcasting is written in black and white in the text of the Broadcasting Act that came into force in 1971.”The idea [de Poilievre] does not stand up to analysis“, he points out. Pierre Trudel also pointed out that many institutions, including the Office of the Auditor General and the many federal judges, are all funded by the Canadian government without losing their independence.

A preserved independence

“Radio-Canada executives were generally very concerned about maintaining the public broadcaster’s independence“, indicates Pierre Trudel, before recalling that even if appointed by the government, the station’s president, once appointed, is accountable only to the Canadian Commission on Radio, Television and Telecommunications (CRTC), whose mandate the Audit of Radio-Canada’s activities, including with a view to renewing its license to operate. In addition, this specialist adds, reviews of CBC/Radio Canada practices conducted by this federal agency found that, in general, “The public broadcaster does its job and criticizes it [à propos d’un parti pris] didn’t last“.

According to the management of CBC/Radio Canadathis label on CBC’s Twitter account implies that the Canadian government “can intervene in editorial content to varying degrees“, which is not the case, the state-owned company recalled on April 16. In a press release CBC/Radio Canada explains that sheis publicly funded by a parliamentary grant elected by all MPs“.

Radio Canada adds that his editorial independence is otherwise protected by the Broadcasting Act and that his work is subject to journalistic standards and practices – a strict and transparent guide to ethical and professional standards – “and an independent grievance mechanism through the Radio-Canada and CBC Ombudsmen.“According to Radio-Canada, CBC was never contacted by Twitter before the social network made its decision. The public broadcaster also claims not to be aware of the process leading to the affixing of this label to Twitter.

Tense relationship between Elon Musk and the media

CBC isn’t the only major medium to have recently been branded”state-sponsored mediafrom Twitter. ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has also inherited this label on Twitter. Twitter management also saw fit to remove them New York Times Elon Musk accuses the American daily Propaganda of officially authenticating his account.

In the last few days, the labels of the NPR (National Public Radio) American and BBC were also changed. The social network added mention of media affiliated with the state to NPR’s account, affixing it with the same label as Chinese or Russian government media. In protest at the network’s new policies, NPR became the first major outlet to leave Twitter.