When you live in a country where most of the news media is controlled by friends of the government, do you think you should believe all the news? Do you believe that Big Brother loves you? Do you believe that the managed media are on your side? Do you believe that the large corporations who own Canada’s news media care what you think? If they are supporting the government’s plan to pipe bitumen across Canada, do you expect them to tell you the truth? No, but you know that Big Brother loves you.
Did you notice the other day that Bell Canada can go ahead with a $3 billion purchase of Astral Media. Maybe that does not mean much to you. Maybe you do not care if Bell Canada now controls a third of Canada’s broadcast media. It has taken Bell Canada several years to pull off this level of control and the company’s good friend Big Brother seems to have helped the company do it. Bell Canada loves Big Brother.
It is not that Bell Canada does not have competition. More than 25 million Canadians every week see shows and specialty programs from Shaw Communications. Shaw is based in Calgary, Alberta. Shaw Communications loves Big Brother.
In fact, when you think of it, three huge corporations—Bell, Shaw and Rogers are earning massive amounts of money from Canadians because they control most of the airwaves. Have you ever tried to negotiate a better rate from one of these companies–when you have no choice as to which one? And why do Canadians have to pay more than anyone else for their cell phones and Internet and television services? It really pays to love Big Brother.
That leaves the newspapers, but do you know how few people control Canada’ print media? There are people like Paul Godfrey of Postmedia in Toronto. Paul Godfrey is a big fan of Big Brother. There is Pierre Karl Péladeau of Sun Media who seems to be torn between his love for Big Brother and his love for Quebec separatists. Judging by his print publications in both English and French, he must think all Canadians move their lips as they read.
Of course there are a few voices of dissent out there but ones like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation keep losing funding for not loving Big Brother.
So why is it that Enbridge–the pipeline people—are so confident that they can convert an old pipeline running through Toronto into a reversed, high-temperature, high pressure line to take bitumen slurry east to the sea lanes.
Enbridge can do it because Big Brother loves bitumen. And Big Brother believes that he can handle any dissent and the news media will sit back and allow it. They have so far.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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