By all accounts, Northland Tales, the CBC-backed 'prank show,' was nothing but a politically motivated and partisan hack job. We now know that they have targeted academics, authors, retired and active RCMP officers, a retired teacher, elected officials, and members of the media.
Each of the people we have heard from — Lindsay Shepherd, Frances Widdowson, Patrice Dutil, Jerry Amernic, Aaron Gunn, Dallas Brodie, and Jonathan Kay — all have one thing in common. In one way or another, each of these individuals can be described as being on the conservative side of things politically, or at least would be perceived that way by activists on the left, which is what those behind this supposed comedy show certainly seem to be.
Have you seen a single person come forward to say they were approached to appear on this fake program who would be identified as a liberal or progressive?
Partisan Hit Job Paid for with Taxpayer Dollars
This matters because your tax dollars are funding this program. The CBC, of course, gets its more than $1.5-billion subsidy from Parliament, plus access to other pots of money that amount to other forms of public funding. The Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) is also subsidized to the tune of millions of dollars every year. Then there is the funding for this project from the Indigenous Screen Office, another government-funded program pushing your tax dollars to this misguided project. All in, millions of taxpayer dollars went into this project that had a very specific and partisan bent and a mission to mock and ridicule conservatives.
CBC Defended Production Despite Pause
In their statement announcing a pause in production to review the existing footage, CBC took pains to explain that this was a project of CBC Entertainment and that neither CBC News nor APTN News had anything to do with it. The statement then explained how the project came to be: 'The project was first pitched at the Indigenous Screen Summit — part of the Banff World Media Festival in 2024. CBC Entertainment joined APTN as a partner shortly thereafter.' The statement then defended the style of the production rather robustly: 'Social experiments and satirical prank shows are a long-established television format used by broadcasters and streamers around the world, including many public broadcasters. In this case, the Indigenous creators are using the format for Northland Tales. A form of comedy is being deployed to increase better understanding of historical injustices against Indigenous peoples and support truth and reconciliation in Canada.'
This Does Nothing for Truth and Reconciliation
The simple rebuttal to this is that you do not further truth and reconciliation through lies and obfuscation. You do not rectify historical injustices by degrading and humiliating retired RCMP officers or academics presenting their work in good faith. Emails to the office of Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller, the person ultimately responsible for this debacle, only generated multiple out-of-office replies, but no real response as of Thursday evening. Earlier this week, Brian Sauvé, the president and CEO of the National Police Federation union that represents RCMP members, wrote to Miller asking for action including a full investigation. 'Taxpayer-funded organizations must not be permitted to exploit deception as a tool of political messaging, particularly where the subjects were invited under false pretenses to participate in what they reasonably believed was a respectful recognition of their service,' Sauvé said. Sauvé told Miller that he expects 'prompt attention' to this matter, although a spokesperson for the federation said that they have yet to hear back from Miller’s office.
