I, like many Canadians, get a lot of information on TV news broadcasts. I am aware that we are dependent on various news stations like PGTV, BBC, CBC, and even CTV. I have noticed that, yes, there is a lot of controversy surrounding green house gasses. I remember one politician suggesting that the ‘Clean Air Act’ is really a sign of them being ‘in bed’ with industry that contributes a lot of green house gasses. If you follow my news stories, you’ll probably have noted that I have a slant towards Copyright and technology related issues. So I’ve noticed something that is missing from the air waves – not just a little facts or tidbits of information, but an entire controversial issue entirely. That issue is Ministry of Heritage getting a lobbyist to set up a fund raiser right before a related policy reform is being brought up.

     I’m also quite sure this issue will never be seen on the airwaves at all either even though it’s quite important, why? Because the people that are bribing Bev Oda is non other than the broadcasters themselves. There’s an MP known as Charlie Angus who is from the NDP. You can find all this information and even the audio of his arguments in parliament at his website here: http://www.charlieangus.net/

     So what happened? From what I could find, Bev Oda, the Minister of Canadian heritage noted that key policies for broadcasters was happening, at the time, two weeks away. So what she did was get a friend to set up a fundraiser and invite the broadcasters to make cash donations, allegedly, in exchange for political influence. She was bearing in mind that this is perfectly OK under current laws since the Government Accountability act is nowhere near being passed still. The Act wouldn’t allow this type of behaviour. Charlie Angus caught wind of this and said in parliament, “Mr. Speaker, next week, the heritage minister is holding a major fundraiser and, for the price of a ticket, one gets access not just to the heritage minister but to the industry minister. The woman who is flogging the tickets for the minister just happens to be Charlotte Bell who is head of regulatory affairs for CanWest. […]The broadcast review happens in two weeks. The cash grab happens next week.”

     Right after the session, Bev Oda cancelled the fundraiser citing that she didn’t know the person she had organising it was a lobbyist. The next day, Charlie says, “Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the heritage minister was caught passing the hat with industry insiders and lobbyists. As soon as we shone the light on it, they scrambled to cancel the event so we would not find out who was at the trough. […]I have […] a three point plan to maintain the ethical sobriety of the heritage minister: first, reveal the list of those she is putting the tap for money on so we know which lobbyists are rewriting government policy on copyright and deregulation; second, institute a remedial plan so she can learn how to listen to the groups and artists that she is supposed to be representing; and third, ask the House of Commons carpentry staff to head over to the heritage minister's office and paint over the big for sale sign on her door.”

     Predictably, this doesn’t even show up on TV. Instead, we are seeing (at least on CTV) issues surrounding the US bi-election. I think it’s a shame that the very people responsible for bringing us information on what is going on in Canada are the people pushing a corruption issue under the rug. More disturbing is that they are the very people influencing the government with money. I don’t claim on knowing the specific issues they were targeting, but I get the feeling it has yet to have a chance to be brought up so far. The issue was well covered by Michael Geist who can be found here: www.michaelgeist.ca