Media bias is about much more than CBC...

Former host slams CBC on the way out the door, but what about coverage of Carney's cuts?

Monday was a busy travel day back to Toronto from a week in Saskatoon and Calgary, so there was no newsletter – just too busy.

Part of being busy was writing our top story yesterday for the Toronto Sun.

That being the story of CBC journalist and TV host Travis Dhanraj resigning from the state broadcaster and lighting them up on the way out the door. I broke the story Monday morning, and it stayed our top story all day while other media outlets scrambled to catch up.

You can see the front page below, read the column here, and read Travis’ full resignation letter here.

None of us should be surprised by CBC being a biased journalistic outlet despite their claims to be neutral. We can all see it with our own eyes, they lean left, they back the Liberals, they push that Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal triangle viewpoint of Liberal Canada on the rest of the country.

Before their supporters jump up and say, “But Lilley and the Sun back Conservatives!” let me make a clear distinction.

We are open about our bias; we don’t hide it, and we aren’t the recipients of $1.5 billion in annual taxpayer funding.

From Dhanraj’s email to all CBC staff.

CBC calls itself a champion of inclusion, and public trust. But those ideals are too often deployed as branding tools, not lived principles. And Canadians are noticing.

What’s happening inside this institution is no longer just an internal problem. It’s a public one.

Dhanraj went on in his email to all staff at CBC to call out dysfunction and encourage people to speak up from the inside to reform their broken workplace.

I doubt that will happen, but I do look forward to hearing more from Travis.

Trump’s musing push markets down...

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was still committed to his “reciprocal tariff” plan on other countries but has delayed the August 1 implementation in an attempt to get more deals. That said, Trump did threaten Japan and South Korea with stiff tariffs unless they come up with concessions to American demands.

Trump posted several letters to world leaders to his Truth Social account on Monday warning of the coming levies.

It was enough to see the S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq and TSX all head into negative territory. It was a different story in Europe where the DAX in Germany, FTSE in Britain and CAC in France all rose slightly while Japan’s Nikkei index was up 0.3% on the news.

Canada of course is not part of these reciprocal tariffs, but we are subject to Trump’s sectoral tariffs and the general uncertainty his actions are having.

A report by Bloomberg shows that the number of Canadians who feel unsure about the security of their jobs is growing. Polling for Bloomberg, as reported in Financial Post, shows that just under 30% now say they are unsure about their job security.

That’s never a good sign.

Ford and Smith making sense...

There was an outbreak of Common Sense in Calgary on Monday as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith – who I saw at Stampede last week – welcomed Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The two signed a pair of memorandums of understanding on trade and energy cooperation.

They talked about building small modular nuclear reactors for clean energy, getting pipelines built west and east, about building a rail line to Ontario’s ring of fire and more.

In an interview with my Sun colleague Rick Bell, Ford had a message for Albertans and for Prime Minister Mark Carney. It’s time to show Alberta respect, it’s time to start building and not just talking.

“I don’t blame them for being angry,” says Ford, of Albertans.

“They’re 100 per cent right in not being listened to. They were ignored and treated terribly for 10 years. Those days are done.

“Let’s give an opportunity to the federal government right now. But I will be the first, I’ll be all over them like an 800-pound gorilla if they don’t want to work with us. I won’t make any bones about it and they know it.”

Ford, like a lot of Canadians, including Smith, is willing to give Carney the benefit of the doubt for now. As Smith said though, eventually the rubber needs to hit the road and she’s hoping for something concrete by this fall.

Alberta’s Premier says she wants to have at least an indication about pipeline project support from the feds within a few months.

Just a little proof that I donned a cowboy hat at the Stampede.

Carney is going to cut, cut, cut...

It wasn’t that long ago that Mark Carney and his federal Liberals were warning that if Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives were elected that government spending would be slashed.

Well, consider some of the headlines coming from Parliament Hill.

Globe: Cabinet ministers asked to find ‘ambitious’ spending cuts as Carney government prepares first budget

CBC: Carney’s cabinet asked to find ’ambitious savings’ ahead of fall budget

Star: Carney ministers told to cut billions from federal spending

As National Post lays it out, these are not small spending cuts.

In two letters sent Monday to all his cabinet colleagues — including secretaries of state who sit outside cabinet as junior ministers — Champagne stated his intention to reduce program spending by 7.5 per cent for the 2026–27 fiscal year, by 10 per cent in the second year, and 15 per cent in 2028–29.

Any organization should be able to easily find 5% savings in their budget, but heading to 10-15% cuts is significant. None of the stories above really attack the government, and I doubt we will see much of that.

While I think these cuts in program spending – which has gotten out of control – are needed, the reaction would be far different if it were a Poilievre government issuing the same orders.

The reaction out of Ottawa would be one of shock, outrage, horror, panic and warnings about grannies being left to fend for themselves.

People wonder why I have consistently said there is a major media bias towards the Liberals in this country and it’s not just about CBC.