This isn't a new problem with the Canadian mass media. It has been like this for a while. It has just become far more blatant within the past decade than it was in the past. CBC News has gotten particularly bad.

I wonder if the CBC will pull a CNN, a la “Firey but mostly peaceful protest”?

I’m betting on “no”.

They’ll seek out the fringe and ignore the majority, report innuendo and rumor as fact, and try and paint the whole movement as “racists, alt-right, anti-science” all the while ignoring all the evidence it’s not.

If some participant is interviewed and sounds articulate, with rationale concerns about government policy, that’ll be left on the cutting room floor.

CBC is now literally claiming that Russia is behind the truckers protest. It’s a drastic pivot from claiming that it was a fringe minority, which now seems like a total lie considering the scale of it and the tens of thousands of people that came out just to stand on the side of highways and cheer on the protesters.

https://thepostmillennial.com/cbc-suggests-russian-actors-be...

One reporter asked a question about the possibility. Which, sure, is a valid thing for convoy supporters to be offended about (and/or to make you suspicious about her intentions). That's fine. I get it.

But that is decidedly not the same thing as "CBC is now literally claiming that Russia is behind the truckers protest".

True, but it’s a cheap ploy to discredit the movement.

I assume CBC does it more for the outrage clicks than actually believing it’s a possibility.

But it seems par for the course as a political tactic lately: 1) deny a movement represents a significant part of the population, if that fails 2) associate the movement with undesirable elements like Neo-Nazi’s, militias, if that doesn’t work, 3) infer foreign interference.

Note you can do this without a single shred of evidence, pretend like it’s an innocent question, and still discredit the movement. How do you prove a negative?

I mean, if I asked “Maybe Trudeau is secretly an agent for the Chinese?” people would just say it’s a stupid question because without proof it’s just absurd.

It’s the same claiming this protest is being driven by Russia.

I agree, generally. And as mentioned, I think it’s a fair thing to call out.

It doesn’t make the statement that the parent said about the CBC “literally claiming” the Russians are behind it any more true.

You don’t view asking an unsupported leading question as a weak handed attempt at misinformation or seeming state-media corruption? Reporters are representatives of their employer. And a reporter at a state owned media floating a conspiracy theory about citizens who are legally protesting seems a lot like propaganda. We would definitely call it that if it was done in a country outside the Western hegemony. I haven’t seen the CBC or government officials discredit this yet, so I assume they are happy to stand by and let it circulate.

> Am I missing something?

There’s numerous videos pouring in of individuals going into local businesses to harass and threaten employees while flaunting they aren’t wearing masks.

These individuals likely don’t represent the majority. But it doesn’t feel like just a few bad apples.

A friend of mine recently died by suicide and I think the constant persuasion to socially isolate was a contributing factor. It made it near impossible to detect that something was wrong and to intervene. He messaged me the day before asking how I was & mentioned that mental health was on his mind. I didn't realize that he needed help urgently.

People suffering from depression don't seek help and I'm not going to force him meet face-to-face. We're making the responsible choice anyways, given our public health recommendations. He was of course in the lowest COVID risk demographic, and was vaccinated.

The subversion, strawmaning & lies-by-omission throughout MSM and from our politicians has been incredible. It's even worse that friends and family are parroting it. People are suffering because of the public health mandates. It's not just "Canadians are tired". I don't think this is being fairly acknowledged.

Having been following the movement from supporters Facebook groups, you are seeing it much as they are seeing it. The government sees it differently, but it seems hard to me to call this a "fringe minority ... who are holding unacceptable views". What fraction of Canadians they represent is hard to tell (although, honestly, it wouldn't be hard for the media to commission and report an unbiased poll).

The Angus Reid Institute have some recent poll results related to this.

Agree vs Disagree: "It's time to end restrictions and let people self-isolate if they're at risk"

54% responded agree or strongly agree during the Jan 27-28 polling period. This is up from 40% during the Jan 7-12 period.

https://angusreid.org/omicron-incidence-restrictions/