Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Canada's CTV - all the news that fits

Canada's Auditor General, responsible for oversight of the federal government's operations, released some reports today which shone some harsh light on the substandard performances and "challenges" faced by a number of government departments and agencies. Here are six of the AG's findings.

A — Half of the 16 million people who called federal call centres last year couldn't get through. Instead of giving callers the option of waiting, some centres sent them back to the automated phone system, directed them to a website or told them to call back later.

B — Even after having to pay a fine of C$550,000 (nearly $410,000 in real money) for a Labour Code conviction related to the death of three Mounties five years ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is unsure if all of its officers have access to the rifles and body armour needed to respond to an active shooter. Apparently Canada's national police force mismanaged the purchase, distribution and ongoing maintenance of semi-automatic rifles known as carbines.

C — Canada’s refugee-determination system is unable to process claims on time despite reforms introduced seven years ago. The "asylum-seeker" (= illegal border crosser) caseload faces a mounting backlog, with a processing system that has chronic delays and lax criminality checks. The AG projects that if the number of new asylum claimants remains steady at around 50,000 per year (!), by 2024 the wait time for decisions will increase to five years, more than double what it is now.

D — The Canadian sales-tax system failed to keep up with the rapidly evolving digital marketplace, with the result that C169 million of Goods and Service Tax on foreign products and services sold in Canada in 2017 went uncollected. In addition, the federal government could not assess and collect all sales taxes on e-commerce transactions.

E — Public funds might be supporting partisan advertising due to a lack of adequate controls. Only government advertising valued at $500,000 or more is reviewed by an independent body, even though less expensive campaigns could represent a risk of partisanship. [No kidding. Ed.]

F — The National Museum of Science and Technology houses a large portion of its collection in leased storage facilities, along with many objects that have yet to be assessed or catalogued. Poor conditions in these spaces pose risks of deterioration, damage and theft.

Walt has not attempted to rank these items in order of importance, but readers will certainly guess which one I think is most significant. I think most Canadians would agree that Canada's porous border -- 50,000 illegals crossing every year, with the RCMP able to do no more than carry their bags and direct them towards the welfare office -- is the problem most in need of immediate attention.


My question for today: Which two (only) did Canada's CTV News think worthy of inclusion in its midday TV newscast? Answer: A & B. Maybe there wasn't enough time for the others, although nearly five minutes was devoted to the latest baby produced by the British royals. Funny though. Item C was mentioned prominently in other lamestream media, even the state-owned Canadian Broadcorping Castration (CBC).

In "Auditor General report more evidence of a Liberal government more taken with grand visions than actual governing", Postmedia's John Ivison writes:

In at least two cases, the problems are less a matter of neglect than the direct consequence of weak and wrong-headed decisions. Let's take the report in order of egregiousness — from clown-car policy to the merely careless. It will come as no surprise that the Liberal government's inept handling of the asylum seeker issue has had an effect similar to closing Highway 401 in rush-hour: system gridlock....

While there is clearly a bureaucratic logjam, the real blame lies in government policy. The Liberals created the problem because getting tough with refugees was not on-brand — even when it became clear that the lax Canadian system was being played by economic migrants flying into the U.S. from countries like Nigeria.

John Ivison was once a regular panelist on CTV's Sunday morning Question Period snorefest. No more. Comments like Mr Ivison's clearly do not fit the liberal narrative. And liberal bias is just as much the foundation of CTV's editorial policies as those of the CBC. The difference is that the CBC gets paid directly by the Liberal government, whereas CTV does not. But wait... The recent federal budget set aside some C$650 million for subsidies to Canada's struggling "independent" media. Guess which media will be at the head of the line.

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