In any other country, it would take a government down. In Canada, it isn’t even making the top headlines with legacy media outlets..There is some pretty solid evidence the prime minister’s office may have directly pressured RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to interfere with an active investigation into the worst mass shooting in Canadian history to score political points..Some columnists have taken up the cause and are writing on the scandal..Many others are trying to direct rage towards the faux-scandal of Conservative MPs who offered parliamentary tours to some activists..It is the journalistic version of shouting “Hey squirrel” in hopes of distracting the public eye from an issue they don’t want to gain traction..Other reporters are offering fawning coverage of Prime Minister Trudeau as he tours Africa and dodges questions on the scandal..This is the sort of journalism subsidized media buys. With the government dangling hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies in front of media outlets and of course subsidizing the State Broadcaster to the tune of $1.4 billion per year, there is little appetite among legacy media outlets to upset the apple cart..The Liberal government has created a system where media outlets have to apply and be accredited as official by a nebulous, closed-door committee. If an outlet isn’t considered to be an official media outlet, they will not qualify for a myriad of subsidies and handouts. With the rules for qualification not being clearly defined, media dependent upon these handouts are motivated to avoid annoying the government lest they suddenly lose accreditation..The Western Standard applied for accreditation and were accepted by the way. We then refused the applications for subsidies. We just wanted to see if we could do it. We won’t give away our independence for handouts..This method of keeping the media in line appears to be working like a charm..If such a disgraceful scandal as prime ministerial interference into a mass murder investigation were breaking ten years ago, the prime minister would be swarmed with reporters at every stop demanding answers. The issue would top every headline and an independent inquiry into the matter would be struck within days..Today? We see outrage expressed on Twitter and a few columns cutting into the issue. Aside from that, the media silence is deafening. .If Trudeau slithers out of this scandal as he has with many others, he will continue on his authoritarian path of controlling media and information. Bills C-11 and C-18 are still quietly moving through parliament and if they pass, Canada will second only to nations such as North Korea and China as far as government control of information in media and social media are concerned. While academics like Professor Michael Geist have been ringing alarm bells on this government effort to control information and discourse, a meek, legacy media will barely talk about it..This should be among the top political stories of the year yet it only reaches the third-tier of legacy media attention right now..Senior RCMP officials have stated that while the 22 bodies of the victims in the Nova Scotia mass shootings had barely cooled yet, the commissioner of the RCMP was bypassing communication protocols, apparently on behalf of the prime minister’s office. She was pushing for the early release of evidence to the public in the investigation in order to help Trudeau push some gun control legislation he was cooking. She very well could have damaged the investigation and at the very least, should immediately resign..As it stands now, Commissioner Lucki is still comfortable in her job and the prime minister has offered little more than a short, terse denial of wrongdoing. Since he is hiding overseas right now, MPs can’t question him in parliament on the issue and Canada’s pathetic legacy media corps aren’t working hard to put the questions to him..If Justin Trudeau skates on the controversy, much of the reason will be due to a broken media environment. It also indicates that virtually no scandal can take him down..Just think of what sort of governance we can look forward to with Trudeau confident in the knowledge he is politically invincible.
