Internal government records reveal repeated conflicts between a federally subsidized newspaper publisher and the Department of Canadian Heritage, raising questions about why taxpayer money continued to flow despite legal breaches.Discourse Community Publishing Ltd., based in Sun Peaks, B.C., operates a chain of weeklies including The Discourse, Sun Peaks Independent News, IndigiNews, The Wren Kamloops and The Revelstoke Mountaineer. Blacklock's Reporter says since 2020, the company has received $483,578 in federal grants, along with additional undisclosed subsidies through the Local Journalism Initiative, which covers 100% of eligible payroll costs.Department managers repeatedly flagged the publisher for issues with grant applications, including applying under names different from its legal title and failing to properly itemize editorial costs. “If you do not respond by tomorrow your application may be considered incomplete,” one warning email stated. The department also reprimanded Discourse Community Publishing for failing to credit taxpayer support on its website..Publisher Brandi Schier defended the company’s accounting practices, explaining that shared expenses across multiple outlets made it difficult to break down costs precisely. “I need more time than a few days as my week is already quite full,” she wrote in one email requesting an extension.Despite the warnings, the company continued to receive government funding even after being fined $10,000 by the federal labour department last September for violating the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The Department of Canadian Heritage has declined to explain why it continued to subsidize a corporation in breach of federal law..Discourse Community Publishing says it is committed to accountability.“Journalists are among the least trusted people in society,” the company states in its mission statement. “We want to earn your trust by being transparent.”The records suggest a troubling pattern of government funds flowing to a company facing compliance issues, with no indication that a federal audit was ever conducted.
