Federal court rules CBC can keep taxpayers in the dark on spending
A federal court has sided with the CBC, ruling the state broadcaster can keep taxpayers completely in the dark about how it spends their money.
Author: Quinn Patrick
A federal court has sided with the CBC, ruling the state broadcaster can keep taxpayers completely in the dark about how it spends their money, claiming transparency could lead to “political interference.”
The Federal Court has ruled that the CBC is permitted to keep taxpayers uninformed about its spending, following a legal challenge filed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
The CTF launched the challenge last year after the CBC denied its request—made through the Access to Information Act—for figures on how much the public broadcaster spent on advertising between 2020 and 2023.
At the time of the filing, the state broadcaster had claimed financial strains and requested an increase to its annual taxpayer funding of $1.6 billion.
However, Federal Court Justice Guy Régimbald ruled “that disclosing the requested records would cause prejudice to the CBC and impair its proper functioning,” adding that it could “compromise CBC’s competitive position in the markets.”
“CBC argued that due to the highly competitive nature of the television and online advertising market, the complete disclosure of its aggregate advertising expenditures could be used by competitors to develop predictive models, refine their strategies and gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace,” the decision reads.
“The CBC further explained the disclosure of its advertising costs could result in political interference and pressure to modify its spending, thereby affecting its competitive position in the market.”
Régimbald went on to say that he found “no evidence” that the Crown agency’s advertising expenditures were “of public importance,” adding that defunding it was “a mission of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation” and disclosing its spending priorities wouldn’t help a “meaningful public discussion on CBC’s funding.”
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) called the decision “troubling,” saying it raises “serious transparency concerns.”
“The Federal Court has ruled that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is not required to disclose its advertising spending under the Access to Information Act. The court found releasing the information could “cause prejudice to the CBC and impair its proper functioning,” the JCCF wrote in a post to X on Friday.
“The Access to Information system is one of the few tools available to citizens and legal advocates to ensure fundamental freedoms are upheld by shining a light on government and decision-making.”
While Régimbald agreed that Access To Information was essential in “ensuring financial institutions remain accountable” to Canadians, he said that such a “commitment to transparency is not absolute.”
During the 2025 federal election, the Liberals promised to boost CBC subsidies by $150 million annually, raising its total funding to $1.6 billion. Prime Minister Mark Carney has described the public broadcaster as “the most important of Canadian institutions.”
“We will not only increase CBC funding by $150 million but we will also make this funding statutory, meaning Parliament as a whole will need to approve any future changes to its funding, not just the cabinet,” Carney said during the campaign.
Heritage Minister Marc Miller warned Canadians to be wary of “illegitimate” media that doesn’t align with state-funded outlets like the CBC, which he claims is “ferociously independent” and essential for “social cohesion.”
“I think in an age we’re all living through, of intense disinformation, there is less social cohesion as falsities are propagated through media sources, both legitimate and illegitimate,” Miller said during a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage earlier this month. “Social cohesion is the ability for people to trust their institutions, to not feel like society is falling apart, that we are all living together and able to exercise the rights, in the case of Canada, that define us,” he said.
Meanwhile, CBC News anchor Rosemary Barton was caught laughing with a hot mic still running while uttering the words, “ cause it’s all made up anyways.”
Barton had just finished a segment discussing Alberta politics, where she claimed that some Albertans were “warming up to the prime minister.”