A Hill Times commentary has drawn sharp criticism after likening the potential election of a Conservative Parliament in 2025 to the rise of Nazi authoritarianism in 1930s Germany.
Blacklock's Reporter says the article also took aim at Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre for his stance against federal subsidies to news organizations, including the Hill Times itself.
“The next federal election will test the limits of our parliamentary democracy,” wrote contributor Erica Ifill in the commentary titled “Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome.”
The piece claimed, “All we need is a Reichstag fire for our rights to be suspended and to never return to democracy without a fight.”
The commentary described Canada as being in a precarious state, saying, “It feels very Weimar Republic in here,” referencing the democratic period in Germany before the Nazi regime's rise in 1933.
Ifill alleged that Poilievre might “subvert legislative power and judicial independence,” though no specific examples were provided to support the claim.
The article also criticized the Conservative leader's opposition to illegal immigration, portraying it as extreme and immoral, and accused the Liberal-leaning press of enabling a “permission structure” for right-wing values.
The Hill Times, which has received $620,137 in federal grants and sole-sourced contracts since 2022, along with payroll rebates through the government’s $595 million media bailout program, has been at odds with Poilievre over his vow to end newsroom subsidies.
In a January 2024 statement, Poilievre reiterated his commitment to ending federal media funding if the Conservatives form government. “We are going to make sure the government does not use tax dollars to leverage news coverage in its favour,” he said.
The Hill Times previously published a news article quoting critics who accused the Conservative Party of promoting “a false narrative about journalists being government shills.”
That article described Poilievre as “a bit of a jackass” and claimed he had a disdain for the press.
