Media lobbyist demands mountains of taxpayer cash for "foundational" CBC
News Media Canada CEO Paul Deegan urged MPs to maintain Covid-era payroll rebates at up to $29,750 per employee.
Author: Alex Dhaliwal
The chief lobbyist for taxpayer-funded media says outlets such as the CBC and the Globe and Mail are “foundational” to Canadians while arguing for long-term subsidies with no spending restrictions.
“The written word, text-based journalism tends to be foundational in terms of what is often used in radio and television,” testified Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada.
“If you are watching CBC at night, often the lead story on The National is something that Bob Fife and Steve Chase broke in the Globe & Mail that morning,” he told the Commons finance committee. “We work very closely with our partners, with the broadcasters.”
On Thursday, Deegan urged MPs to maintain COVID-era newsroom payroll rebates at up to $29,750 per employee, rather than allowing them to drop to $13,750 next year.
“The Government of Canada, I have to say, has been terrific over the last number of years on policies supporting the news publishing sector,” he said. “I think they recognize the value.”
However, Privy Council research found that few Canadians support making aid to the news industry a federal priority, with only a small minority ranking it among the government’s top concerns.
It also found many Canadians believe news has become more opinion-driven and sensationalized, making it harder to determine what is true.
Previous Statistics Canada data ranked journalists below politicians and lawyers in perceived reliability.
Parliament amended the Income Tax Act in 2019 to subsidize daily news media as a temporary, transitional measure.
“There does need to be a deadline,” testified Bob Cox, then-chair of News Media Canada. “I see this as a transitional program and temporary help. I don’t like the idea of a long-term subsidy for newspapers that becomes permanent.”
However, temporary aid has become a permanent, secret subsidy for 141 news corporations—the only federal program of its kind that does not disclose payments to recipients.
On Thursday, Deegan specifically called on MPs to maintain the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit at 35 per cent. It is scheduled to revert to 25 per cent on January 1, 2027.
“The credit is highly efficient in that it rewards those who grow and maintain newsroom employment,” he said.
However, SaltWire used $5.2M in aid to pay overdue taxes while laying off staff, and the Winnipeg Free Press closed its Parliament Hill bureau despite receiving subsidies.
Discourse Community Publishing also used subsidies to hire foreign workers and was fined $10,000 for labour violations.
Blacklock’s Reporter told the 2026 Commons heritage committee that journalism requires “fair play, transparency and integrity,” and called for disclosure and auditing of subsidies paid to media recipients.
After Blacklock’s reported that a News Media Canada panel awarded itself 100% payroll subsidies under the Local Journalism Initiative, recipient names were concealed and the Department later refused to disclose all funded outlets.
“If recipients of $2,500 Canada Student Loan subsidies are named under proactive disclosure, taxpayers are owed similar transparency for newsrooms receiving payroll rebates up to $29,750 per employee,” the publication said.