650% more than Sun Infotainment

Oh ... snap!

Source: this tweet.

Corporate Welfare for Quebecor and thus Sun TV

Look who's another MASSIVE liar.

Why, it's none other than Quebecor, owner of Sun Infotainment.

For more than three years, Quebecor has been using its newspapers, and more recently, its SunNews Network TV license to pursue a campaign against CBC/Radio-Canada. But there are some things Quebecor won’t tell you:

• Quebecor has received more than half a billion dollars in direct and indirect subsidies and benefits from Canadian taxpayers over the past three years, yet it is not accountable to them.
• Quebecor uses this public subsidy and its dominant position in protected industries to make record profits yet complains that its TVA television network "competes” against Radio-Canada.
• Quebecor boss Pierre Karl Péladeau has sent over a dozen letters to the Prime Minister and others in government to complain that Radio-Canada does not spend enough money advertising in his newspapers.

From here.

More background on Quebecor, here.

And here we thought SunTV would be

a pipeline for Stevie's PMO aka the Politburo, feeding English-speaking Canada non-stop ReformaTory propaganda.

Who knew that it would become the CONmedy Channel, with enough Poe's Law ambiguity to Confuse its intended audience? John Doyle describes an ersatz mash-up of Red Green and Stephen Colbert.

In its short but feisty life, Sun News Network has emerged as the finest of comedy sources. I’ve said that before. But now it’s even funnier.

I thought few instances of rip-roaring satire in the history of Canadian comedy could match the time Sun News host Ezra Levant marked Earth Day by assaulting a potted plant with a chainsaw. Levant, wearing a lumberjack shirt and a hard hat, began by making a lengthy speech at a pulpit. [...]

Then an assistant fired up the chainsaw and, after some small difficulty getting a grip on the instrument, Levant committed an assault on the unfortunate plant.

Sheer genius. Earth Day, Soviet communism and a chainsaw wielded by a guy not too familiar with the instrument.

And of course, there's Krista Erickson's totally hysterical impersonation of a journalist, replete with moves evoking Ann Coulter on crystal meth.

Meanwhile, the *real* Coulter's career as the official stand-up comic of Right-Wing Batshit Crazies has taken a queer turn.

"Hold on to your cowboy hats kids because there is a big surprise coming up on The A-List Dallas — an appearance from none other than Ms. Ann Coulter. While Ms. Coulter’s political viewpoints are a frequent source of debate, she has always been somewhat supportive of the gay community."

How can someone always be somewhat something? And Coulter supportive of the gays? Like when she endorsed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Or when she spoke in support of reparative therapy?

From here.

Grand merci to Jymm at Let Freedom Rain.

What a dame!

#DameEzra, that is.

Shown below is Dame Edna Everage.

Muttart trail leads back to US dirty tricksters

No fresh scandal here, just excellent investigative work by Alison at Creekside.

Creekside: Patrick Muttart trail leads back to US dirty tricksters

And, as Red Tory points out, a brilliantly played little charade.

Smoking gun meets pêtard mouillé.

Avaaz Sabotaged

Well, isn't it classy?

Yesterday Avaaz experienced an attack on our “Stop ‘Fox News North’” petition consisting of fraudulent sign-ups of targeted individuals.

And dig this (bold mine):

It's deeply disturbing that in all Avaaz's years of campaigns against US President George Bush, Burmese, Zimbabwean and Sudanese dictators, irresponsible multinational corporations and corrupt politicians, no one has ever yet stooped to this kind of tactic to undermine our members' right to express their views.

Go here to see what sort of dictators and war criminals they have taken on in the past. And Fox News North supporters are the first to stoop to sabotage. Isn't that special?

Sounds like Avaaz is some pissed:

We do not yet have all the facts, but it appears to speak to the poisonous political climate and deeply deceptive tactics that have been bred by the radical right in Canada and its progenitor in the US. It is precisely this kind of bare-knuckled, brazenly deceptive and often hateful political climate that Sun TV's "Fox News North" appears keen to promote.

Canadians understand this, which is why, in just over 36 hours, well over 50,000 Canadians have signed our petition against Stephen Harper's attack on the independence of the CRTC as it resists the Sun TV request for access to Canadian’s cable fees.

Go sign the petition if you haven't yet. When I looked a few minutes ago, the number was closing in on 58,000.

And, of course, KKKory Teneycke's hissy fit will just help the numbers. I'm not linking to it; you can find it if you must.

Here's some background on Avaaz.

Avaaz.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group and non-profit organization, and MoveOn, an American non-profit progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. The organization is also supported by Service Employees International Union, a founding partner, and GetUp.org.au. Avaaz's individual co-founders include Executive Director Ricken Patel, Virginia congressman Tom Perriello, Australian progressive entrepreneur David Madden, Jeremy Heimans, Andrea Woodhouse, Tom Pravda, and MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser.

Fox News North

I haven't been blogging much because I'm in despair over the level of political discourse going on. The bald-faced lies, endless spin and re-spin, ideology trumping sense every fucking time. I'm just so sick of it and it's going to get worse if the Harpies get Fox News North on basic cable.

There's an online petition to sign. The text reads:

To CRTC Chair von Finckenstein and PM Harper:
As concerned Canadians who deeply oppose American-style hate media on our airwaves, we applaud the CRTC's refusal to allow a new "Fox News North" channel to be funded from our cable fees. We urge Mr. von Finckenstein to stay in his job and continue to stand up for Canada's democratic traditions, and call on Prime Minister Harper to immediately stop all pressure on the CRTC on this matter.

There are almost 30,000 signatures now. When the total hits 100,000, the organizers will run a full-page ad in a major newspaper.

Please sign and circulate to your friends and associates.

And in a beauty little nutshell (snerk), here's a preview of what Faux News North will be like.

The Blogging Tories are spinning the petition as -- you guessed it -- media censorship.

Blogger posts two tweets, one from Margaret Atwood and one from a Liberal candidate, then says:

Turns out there is an on-line petition circulating (see here) to stop Sun TV and these two wingbats are actually publicly endorsing this attempt at media censorship.
. . .
Can’t wait to hear how the Canadian loonie left that worship Margaret Atwood will try to defend her coming out against freedom of the press.

And here's another ijit spouting the same crap.

When it's a ReformaTory cabinet minister spewing porky pies like this, I hope to hell it's because they toeing the ideological line not because they are actually that braindead. But with Blogging Tories, one wonders.