Who would officially ignore interference in our elections?
Sam Cooper- Canada’s CRTC Lags Behind UK, U.S. in Addressing Chinese Media Influence, Hogue Commission Testimony Reveals
In Hogue Commission testimony, Canada’s media regulator, the CRTC, confirmed it has never considered taking action against Chinese-owned broadcasters accused of engaging in election interference and disinformation at the direction of Chinese officials, as outlined by recent intelligence reports and a just-concluded Elections Canada investigation.
Chinese media is infinitesimally small compared to the overall media landscape in Canada. And yes, it is imperative that the CRTC tackle all issues of undue media influence. I am sure that we can all agree on that.
However, what is impossible to not notice is that within the mainstream Canadian media landscape, ethnic Chinese media figures, invited punditry and “opinion leaders” are highly underrepresented vis à vis their respective proportion of population in Canada. On the other hand, it is quite observable that there are other ethnic groups that are highly overrepresented vis à vis their respective proportion of population in Canada.
Perhaps the CRTC should deal with this overrepresentation as it represents a level of influence that does not reflect Canada’s society as a whole and thus is not necessarily in Canada’s best interest.