Latest news with #CBC
Toronto Sun
14 minutes ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
JAY GOLDBERG: The time to end the CBC as we know it has come
Pedestrians walk in front of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation building in downtown Toronto, June 7, 2006. Photo by GEOFF ROBINS / AFP / FILES / Getty Images Canada's beleaguered national broadcaster should have been privatized long ago. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account There are endless reasons why. The CBC's budget is bloated. The organization's accountability to taxpayers who foot the bill is virtually nil. And journalists shouldn't have their salaries paid for by the government. Full stop. As if Canadians needed to be reminded why the idea of stripping the CBC of taxpayer funding is so attractive to millions of Canadians, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation obtained information — through an access-to-information request — that the CBC handed out a record dollar amount in raises in 2024-25. The CBC had previously announced, with much publicity, that it was ending its bonuses program after controversy about bonuses erupted following a round of layoffs back in 2023. This, so the logic went, would save taxpayers money and show that the CBC was accounting for the financial realities facing Canadians and even the government. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So far, so good. But, instead of handing out bonuses, the CBC just jacked up raises instead. No less than 6,295 CBC employees received raises in 2024-25, amounting to $37.7 million, or about $6,000 per employee. The cost of the raises the CBC handed out last year was more than three times the cost of raises handed out the year before. Clearly, the CBC leadership team was trying to have its cake and eat it too. They wanted to look better to the public by ending executive-level bonuses, but at the same time wanted to get all those same folks some extra cash, all the same. This 'sleight of hand,' as CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano called it , is just another reminder why the CBC should be privatized. But Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is heading in the opposite direction. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney pledged to increase funding for the CBC during this past spring's federal election campaign, rather than recognizing that most Canadians want to see cuts, not more bloat. Apparently, the Carney Liberals don't think $1.4 billion a year is enough in funding, let alone too much. Is it because the government thinks millions of Canadians rely on the CBC for vital news information? Does it really 'strengthen the national dialogue,' as former Canadian heritage minister Pascale St-Onge put it earlier this year? Is it truly 'a cornerstone of our sovereignty'? To strengthen the national dialogue, people have to actually be paying attention. And the numbers show that most Canadians are tuning the CBC out. They don't see the CBC as essential to the national dialogue or a cornerstone of Canadian sovereignty. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. If the CBC were as important as the Liberals make it out to be, one would think audiences would be flocking to the network in droves. But the opposite is true. RECOMMENDED VIDEO For CBC News Network's flagship prime-time news program, the audience is just 1.8% of available viewers, according to a recent quarterly report. That means 98% of Canadians watching TV at that time are watching something else — be it news, sports or entertainment. And when it comes to prime-time TV, the CBC's audience share is just 4.4% . Again, that means over 95% of Canadians watching TV are choosing not to watch the CBC. And yet all those TV viewers choosing not to watch the CBC, as well as Canadians who have cut the cord from cable, are stuck footing the bill. The CBC needs to be privatized and restructured. Other networks survive without being a Crown corporation, eating up over a billion dollars of taxpayer cash each year. If the CBC genuinely has something to offer Canadians, the organization, once restructured, could be made to stand on its own two feet. But the CBC, as it exists now, is bloated, wasteful and divisive. It's time to end the CBC as we know it. Read More Sports World Ontario Canada Toronto & GTA
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault in 2018 case
Five former members of the 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team were found not guilty of sexual assault on Thursday, July 24, after a trial in London, Ontario, with a judge saying she didn't find the complainant's evidence "credible or reliable." 'I cannot rely upon the evidence of (the accuser) and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me," Justice Maria Carroccia said, per the Athletic. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were charged with sexual assault. McLeod faced a second charge of being a party to the offense, and he was also found not guilty of that charge. All had pleaded not guilty. Hart was the only defendant who testified. Carroccia rendered the ruling on Thursday, spelling out her reasoning. Juries had been dismissed on two occasions, once after an early mistrial was declared in the eight-week trial, and it was decided that the judge would rule on the case. The players were in London in June 2018 for a Hockey Canada gala honoring the gold medal-winning world junior championship team. The tournament is for under-20 players. Police say the alleged assaults took place in a hotel room after the defendants had met the woman, then 20, at a downtown bar. According to Canadian network TSN, the woman testified that she had consensual sex with McLeod and after she went to the bathroom, she saw him texting. He left the room and soon returned with two others, she said. Others also later came into the room. 'I shut down and let my body do what it needed to do to keep me safe," she told the court, per the network. "It felt like the safe thing to do was give them what they were wanting." But the judge said, "In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear," The Athletic reported. Carroccia addressed consent videos that McLeod recorded with the woman. The judge said the woman "did not display any signs of intoxication" in the videos and had "no difficulty speaking," per CBC. Carroccia said she believed the woman exaggerated her level of intoxication. CBC also said the judge noted the woman talked in court about telling "her truth," not "the truth." History of the investigation The London police department's initial investigation closed in February 2019 without any charges. It was reopened in July 2022, two months after TSN reported that May that Hockey Canada paid an undisclosed settlement to a woman who alleged in a $3.55 million lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted by eight players in a hotel room. The players were charged in February 2024. Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of the police department's Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section said at the time that additional witnesses were spoken to and additional evidence was collected, starting in 2022. "I can confirm that some of this evidence was not available when the investigation concluded in 2019," she said in a news conference. "This is one investigation, not two. The evidence that was collected in 2018 and 2019 was used in combination with newly gathered evidence to form reasonable and probable grounds to charge these five individuals with sexual assault." The NHL conducted its own investigation but said it would not reveal its findings until after the legal case was completed. Commissioner Gary Bettman had called the allegations "abhorrent." All but Formenton were with NHL teams at the time they were charged and took leaves of absences. Their teams cut them loose in June 2024 by not giving them qualifying offers, making them free agents. McLeod, now 27, played for the New Jersey Devils, Hart, 26, for the Philadelphia Flyers, Dubé, 27, for the Calgary Flames and Foote, 26, played for three NHL teams, mostly recently the Devils. Formenton, 25, played for the Ottawa Senators until 2021-22. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hockey Canada trial: Five players acquitted of sexual assault
USA Today
43 minutes ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault in 2018 case
Five former members of the 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team were found not guilty of sexual assault on Thursday, July 24, after a trial in London, Ontario, with a judge saying she didn't find the complainant's evidence "credible or reliable." 'I cannot rely upon the evidence of (the accuser) and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me," Justice Maria Carroccia said, per the Athletic. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were charged with sexual assault. McLeod faced a second charge of being a party to the offense, and he was also found not guilty of that charge. All had pleaded not guilty. Hart was the only defendant who testified. Carroccia rendered the ruling on Thursday, spelling out her reasoning. Juries had been dismissed on two occasions, once after an early mistrial was declared in the eight-week trial, and it was decided that the judge would rule on the case. The players were in London in June 2018 for a Hockey Canada gala honoring the gold medal-winning world junior championship team. The tournament is for under-20 players. Police say the alleged assaults took place in a hotel room after the defendants had met the woman, then 20, at a downtown bar. According to Canadian network TSN, the woman testified that she had consensual sex with McLeod and after she went to the bathroom, she saw him texting. He left the room and soon returned with two others, she said. Others also later came into the room. 'I shut down and let my body do what it needed to do to keep me safe," she told the court, per the network. "It felt like the safe thing to do was give them what they were wanting." But the judge said, "In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear," The Athletic reported. Carroccia addressed consent videos that McLeod recorded with the woman. The judge said the woman "did not display any signs of intoxication" in the videos and had "no difficulty speaking," per CBC. Carroccia said she believed the woman exaggerated her level of intoxication. CBC also said the judge noted the woman talked in court about telling "her truth," not "the truth." History of the investigation The London police department's initial investigation closed in February 2019 without any charges. It was reopened in July 2022, two months after TSN reported that May that Hockey Canada paid an undisclosed settlement to a woman who alleged in a $3.55 million lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted by eight players in a hotel room. The players were charged in February 2024. Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of the police department's Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section said at the time that additional witnesses were spoken to and additional evidence was collected, starting in 2022. "I can confirm that some of this evidence was not available when the investigation concluded in 2019," she said in a news conference. "This is one investigation, not two. The evidence that was collected in 2018 and 2019 was used in combination with newly gathered evidence to form reasonable and probable grounds to charge these five individuals with sexual assault." The NHL conducted its own investigation but said it would not reveal its findings until after the legal case was completed. Commissioner Gary Bettman had called the allegations "abhorrent." All but Formenton were with NHL teams at the time they were charged and took leaves of absences. Their teams cut them loose in June 2024 by not giving them qualifying offers, making them free agents. McLeod, now 27, played for the New Jersey Devils, Hart, 26, for the Philadelphia Flyers, Dubé, 27, for the Calgary Flames and Foote, 26, played for three NHL teams, mostly recently the Devils. Formenton, 25, played for the Ottawa Senators until 2021-22.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Judge finds five former players not guilty of sexual assault in Hockey Canada trial
July 24 (Reuters) - Five former members of Canada's 2018 world junior ice hockey team were found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room that year, a judge declared on Thursday, according to CBC. The charges against Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart and Cal Foote stemmed from an encounter in a hotel room in the Canadian city of London after a Hockey Canada gala to celebrate their world junior championship victory.
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Groundbreaking music festival Lilith Fair star of upcoming documentary
CBC and ABC News Studios have announced the new documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery will premiere in Canada on Sept. 17 on CBC and the CBC Gem on Sept. 21. From director Ally Pankiw (I Used to Be Funny, Black Mirror, The Great), the feature-length documentary tells the untold story of the groundbreaking music festival featuring only women artists, started in the late 1990s by Vancouver singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan , Terry McBride, Dan Fraser and Marty Diamond. The successful festival ran during the summers of 1997-1999, with a one-off revival in 2010. The festival showcased female musicians and was a countermeasure to music industry standards that limited women from playing together on a concert bill and getting back-to-back radio airplay. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The artists appearing at Lilith Fair varied by date (with McLachlan and Suzanne Vega the only artists to play all dates). Artists on bills included Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Diana Krall, Emmylou Harris, Sinead O'Connor, The Chicks, The Pretenders, Brandi Carlile and many other bold type musicians. 'I'm so filled with pride and nostalgia watching this film,' said Sarah McLachlan in a statement. 'Ally and the team have beautifully captured the magic and strength of a community of women who came together and lifted each other up to create positive change in the world. I hope the film resonates with everyone and we can continue to strive to support and champion one another.' Inspired by the 2019 article, Building a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fair, from Vanity Fair and Epic Magazine and written by Jessica Hopper with Sasha Geffen and Jenn Pelly, the film draws from more than 600 hours of never-before-seen archival footage as well as new interviews and stories from fans, festival organizers, and artists. While the film, which launches the new season of CBC's documentary series The Passionate Eye, celebrates the festival's legacy, it also addresses the backlash it faced at the time and discusses what Lilith Fair means in today's world. 'I am so proud to be a part of this beautiful doc — especially at what feels like a fitting time to highlight a story of resistance and radical joy in the face of systems that try to keep women and diverse voices small,' said director Pankiw in a statement. 'The collaborative effort of this film and what it took to make it mirrors the incredible underdog story of Sarah and her team and how they fought for Lilith to succeed against all odds.' Schitt's Creek star and creator Dan Levy is a producer on the project through his Not A Real Production Company. 'Lilith Fair holds a very special place in my heart,' said Levy in a statement. 'It was one of the first spaces where I remember feeling at home. The music, the sense of community, and the power of a group of women proving an entire industry wrong was a tremendous thing to experience. What Sarah built with that festival changed so much for so many people. And while it is now seen as an odds-defying success story, it was an uphill battle every step of the way. And there is a lot to be learned from that story. It's an honour to be working alongside Sarah on this and I am excited for everyone to understand just how revolutionary Lilith Fair really was.' In addition to the documentary premiere this fall, McLachlan will launch her first studio album of new music in over a decade, Better Broken will drop on Sept. 19. McLachlan will also be touring across Canada this fall. For more information, visit Dgee@
