Charlie Angus likes to talk about disinformation and misinformation — a lot..Most recently he tweeted that “Disinformation and conspiracy costs lives.” And, in response to Western Standard publisher, Derek Fildebrandt, he replied, “Yup. Right-wing disinformation is toxic and tragic.”.Unfortunately, the NDP Timmins-James Bay MP has long conflated right-wing perspectives with falsehoods. Proof abounds at OpenParliament.ca..On Feb. 2, 2011, Angus told the House, “I have never met a journalist in this country who thought that misinformation, lying or negligence has any place in any Canadian newsroom.” In the same minute, he complained that “The CRTC is considering gutting journalistic standards” to the benefit of Fox News..So much changed in a few months..Sun TV launched on April 18 that year. By Oct. 20, Angus was on a committee grilling Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, who owned the network..Angus quoted Marc-François Bernier, the Canada research chair in francophonie communication specializing in journalism ethics..Regarding some commentary against Radio-Canada, Bernier said, “Quebecor might be engaging in willful propagandizing (hammering, repeating the same arguments) or even misinformation (deceiving the public by hiding facts that are pertinent to understanding the events.) Such behaviour pushes the damaging potential of its media to an extreme.”.Unfortunately, this is a regrettably apt description of mainstream media coverage on the COVID-19 response, including the vaccine. It is unfortunate Angus targets right-wing outlets, not legacy media, in this regard..“I certainly wouldn't want us to see a situation where you would begin to act like a Rupert Murdoch, poisoning the political atmosphere of this country,” Angus told Péladeau..“Would you assure us that every single journalist in all those little newspapers is not getting told how to write? It seems to be the exact same article I read. Where is the level of interference within the newsrooms at Quebecor to push your corporate line against your number one competitor? Who sends that message?”.Unfortunately, this is the same kind of question conscientious journalists and citizens are asking following mainstream pandemic coverage..CBC alumni Marianne Klowak and Rodney Palmer and former Global producer Antia Krishna found normal journalistic practices absent..Does Angus care?.Here’s another flashback: on Dec. 11, 2018, Ontario Proud director Ryan O’Connor was interrogated by Angus in committee on the use of data collected from Facebook users..“Misinformation is in the eye of the beholder. Isn’t that what you said?” asked Angus..O’Connor replied, “Some persons will call ‘misinformation’ something they just disagree with politically. That’s not a fair characterization in my opinion.”.O’Connor is right, but Angus doesn’t seem to have taken that message in. He mentioned the “Liberal tool box of misinformation” in 2021, but almost always applies the term to Conservatives or the outcasts of mainstream narratives. On May 9 Angus said, “We know about Russian bot interference during the convoy.”.Do we now? It’s a good thing the government is here with a potpourri of bills to control the media and keep the facts straight..When Angus spoke on Bill C-11, he complained about the rise of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, whom he called “a complete marginal extremist…[who] used the YouTube algorithms to drive his ascendancy, which has created a political toxic nightmare in Brazil.”.Strange, as early as 2019, Jagmeet Singh told the CBC he wanted to leverage social media for more coverage. Does savvy plus right-wing equal guilty?.In the same speech on C-11, Angus complained that Lethbridge MP Rachel Thomas gave “one of the most dismal, disgraceful speeches [he] had ever heard” and “presented a complete falsehood” that was a “toxic brew of paranoia, disinformation and hate.”.Granted, it was hyperbole for Thomas to suggest C-11 would let the Liberal cabinet spy on people’s search results. Even so, the potential for political and ideological control to ensue is real, concerning and worth calling out..Either way, Angus doesn’t shy away from his own characterizations. On April 18, he said half of the Conservative backbench “believes the earth is flat” — a total smear for which he has no proof..Angus even connected Vladimir Putin, Danielle Smith and disinformation last October..On another occasion, he called Smith’s government “the World Economic Forum disinformation team” that “is scaring investors away.” In reality, Alberta finished the year with the highest non-residential per-capita capital investment in Canada in 2022, up from 2021..Speaking of the WEF, last year Conservative MP Colin Carrie asked the House which members of the Liberal cabinet were part of the organization. The question was made at the request of a constituent who had seen a 2017 video of WEF founder Klaus Schwab at Harvard University bragging that the organization had “infiltrated” governments around the world and “penetrated” more than half of Canada’s cabinet..Deputy Speaker Chris d’Entremont, a Liberal, said “Order. The member was in a really good question there, but the audio and the video are really bad. I apologize. Let us try again.”.How can the speaker can say a question was good if he couldn’t hear it? Why was it garbled for him if it was clear to the rest of us? Angus didn’t care about that..“That member was openly promoting disinformation. That is not debate. We have to call out disinformation,” Angus said..Never mind this was a relevant question based on a public speech. Regardless, Angus’ comment allowed d’Entremont to leave the question unanswered. “We are getting into debate again,” he said, and moved on..Establishment suck-ups WE Charity employed one of Angus’ daughters, but after the charity fell into scandal, he seemed quite against them on committee with adverse questions and statements. WE responded with a web page entitled “Charlie Angus: 101 False Statements.”.So, who’s guilty of misinformation exactly?.COVID misinformation has indeed cost lives, but under Bernier’s definition, it’s legacy media, not the Western Standard that has something to answer for..Hopefully Angus can better distinguish facts, falsehoods, and opinions as he adds to his 19 years in Parliament.
