As Canadians head into the new year, True North has gathered a list of some of the biggest legacy media failures of the last year.
From skewed reporting to outright fabrications, this year was full of moments Canada’s legacy outlets would likely prefer Canadians forget.
CTV News gets caught red-handed, manipulating Pierre Poilievre clips
In September, the CTV had to fire two staff after Conservatives caught them splicing clips together to make it sound as if Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was putting forward a non-confidence motion to stop the Liberal dental care plan.
After doing a live TV segment on the dental care plan and pointing to criticisms, CTV News anchor Christina Tenaglia threw to a clip of Poilievre, saying, “That’s why we need to put forward a motion.” In reality, Poilievre’s statement was taken completely out of context.
The clip was manipulated by cutting the first words from Poilievre’s statement to reporters, where he said Canada needs a carbon tax election so Canadians “can vote to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.” The since-fired editors spliced it with a separate clip where he said, “It’s time to put forward a motion for a carbon tax election.”
Legacy media personalities enraged over Tucker Carlson’s visit to Canada
In January, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson visited Canada and spoke at a rally, but Canada’s legacy media personalities were enraged by his presence. Some even equated his comments to inspiring mass violence.
Carlson took shots at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, insinuating that he has not “come out of the closet,” despite Canada’s apparent policy that doing so would be a good thing.
National Observer Columnist Max Fawcett called the event “unbelievably reckless,” while CTV Pundit Scott Reid mocked the exchange, calling it some “cretinous sh*t” and saying that Carlson was a “pointless d*ckwad.”
Carlson also made comments about changing demographics “diluting the voting power of the people (living in Canada long-term.)” TikToker and laid-off Global News reporter Rachel Gilmore said Carlson was spreading “the replacement conspiracy that has inspired mass violence.”
Legacy media accused of “whitewashing” Hamas by media watchdog
In April, a pro-Israel media watchdog, Honest Reporting Canada, honed in on CBC Kids for unbalanced reporting on the Israel-Hamas war meant to target minors.
The article “How Ramadan feels different this year for these Canadian teens”, focused on how this year’s Islamic festivities had a “sombre tone” as the war in Gaza raged on. The article noted how Muslims are unable to celebrate breaking the Ramadan fast as many in Gaza might not have anything to eat when they do the same.
The watchdog criticized the piece as antisemitic, citing that many Muslims in war-torn Muslim nations, Yemen, Sudan and Syria, have been facing famine for years without the same level of outrage. The group noted the difference being other Muslims and not Jews are involved in those conflicts.
The article also didn’t mention documented cases of armed men, likely Hamas, stealing aid trucks carrying food and other supplies, many of which Israel sent into Gaza themselves.
Honest Reporting Canada has noted several other instances of “media weaponizing language” against the Jewish state of Israel.
CTV promotes the false claim that Poilievre met with a protest group affiliated with Diagalon
Despite claims from CTV and Press Progress, protesters who met with Poilievre on an impromptu visit to an anti-carbon tax protest say they have no connection to controversial podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie’s fan base, which centres around a fictitious meme country called Diagalon.
Diagalon was used to justify the Liberal government’s unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act to clear out the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa in February of 2022.
Poilievre has repeatedly denounced the group, which some in the media and politics have linked to far-right extremism. A 2023 report by independent reporter Caryma Sa’d and Elisa Hategan found that Canadian officials noted that the “group” posed no security threat and Mackenzie denied any connection to the protestors or Poilievre.
Despite declining viewership, CBC CEO Catherine Tait says she’s still “entitled” to a raise
After slashing 800 jobs last December due to a 50% decline in viewership, CBC CEO Catherine Tait and many other executives were set to gain a raise. The executive bonuses eventually ballooned into a public relations nightmare for the CBC and subsequent Parliamentary committee hearings.
Despite the decline of the CBC under Tait, she said at a committee meeting that she was entitled to a raise. The CBC was given an “emergency top-up” of $42 million in the Liberal 2024 budget, much of which was redirected into $18.4 million in raises, with $3.3 million going directly to its 45 executives.
This happened in the same year that 61.1% of Canadians surveyed, in a poll commissioned by True North and conducted by One Persuasion, said they supported defunding the CBC in some capacity.
Legacy media have a meltdown while covering the election of Donald Trump
The legacy media was the last place Canadians could turn to for an objective analysis of the US election. Instead, outlets like the CBC engaged in doomsday saying dramatics displayed across Canada’s networks this year.
One Democrat strategist on CBC News’ live coverage of the event compared Trump’s election strategy to “Hitler’s playbook,” suggesting there “might not be many Latinos left” after Trump was finished “rounding up” illegal immigrants. She then added that a “white power” element had to be at play to explain the victory.
CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault implied that Elon Musk, who has since been given an administrative role over the new “Department of Government Efficiency” in the Trump administration, was compromised due to industry ties to Russia and China.
The Globe and Mail released an op-ed by columnist Andrew Coyne calling Trump’s victory a “crisis like no other” which would destroy Ukraine and Taiwan’s sovereignty, end NATO, and tank the world’s economy, all while comparing deportations to Japanese internment camps in WW2.
Meanwhile, CBC News anchor Janyce McGregor said Poilievre’s congratulations message to Trump, which focused on Canadian jobs, echoed that of Trump’s campaign.
She then began to sound the alarm that Conservative MP Jamil Jivani is “someone very close to the mindset of the incoming administration,” implying he shouldn’t be allowed to be “sitting right there” in caucus.