(LifeSiteNews) — The Canadian Department of Health has forced government-funded mainstream media outlets to issue hundreds of “corrections,” warning them that, as a condition of receiving taxpayer funds, they must abide certain conditions, including affording “rebuttal opportunity” to the federal government.
According to records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter this month, the Canadian Department of Health has issued 269 notices to media outlets to “correct” stories since 2018, including 65 from this past year. “Requests ranged from ‘clarifications’ on the difference between legalization and decriminalization of narcotics to minor typographical errors,” Blacklock’s reported.
“I am always concerned about what happens if someone you don’t like or whose opinions you don’t share suddenly has the power to regulate, even at arm’s length, what is said in the press,” Senator Paula Simons told the Senate Human Rights committee.
“Having been a journalist, lots of people think there are factual errors in the newspaper that are just things they don’t like,” she added.
According to the data requested by Conservative MP Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, AB), the Canadian Health Department issued “corrections” to the Canadian Press, Globe & Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Winnipeg Free Press, Whitehorse Daily Star, Medicine Hat News, and others.
In 2019, Parliament amended the Income Tax Act to provide “qualified Canadian journalism organizations” with 25 percent payroll rebates up to $13,750 per employee in addition to a 15 percent digital subscription tax credit.
In order to be considered “qualified,” news agencies are required to conform to the “Canada Revenue Agency Guidance On The Income Tax Measures To Support Journalism.”
According to the guidance document, this includes proving “a consistent practice of providing rebuttal opportunity for those being criticized,” including the Canadian government.
During COVID-19, Canadian mainstream media outlets, which received funding from the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were directed to suppress negative stories about lockdowns and vaccines.
In May, a former journalist who worked for the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) revealed that reporters were stopped from being able to cover stories critical of the COVID vaccines and lockdowns, and were instead encouraged to push government “propaganda.”
READ: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith calls for arson investigators to find cause of wildfires
In another example of controlled journalism, mainstream media outlets continue to publish stories that attribute the ongoing Canadian wildfires to “climate change” despite suspicious videos and police arresting several arsonists across the country.
The push to blame the fires on “climate change” comes as the Trudeau government actively pushes for increased bans on the use of natural resources in Canada.
Similarly, retired Canadian Colonel David Redman recently testified that legacy media outlets are “ministries of propaganda,” with multiple former mainstream media employees also making similar comments about their past employers.