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News Media Industry

During oral questions on the news media industry, a Conservative member asked the government to shift a larger share of its existing federal advertising spending to local and rural radio stations, saying those stations provide vital news during fires, outages and road closures, and that only about 3% of the ad budget currently goes to them. He said he was not asking for new spending, only better use of existing dollars. The Liberal parliamentary secretary replied that local media and journalists need support and said the government’s budget provides funding to help them produce fact-based local news.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Gaétan Malette

Conservative

Linked statement

“Local radio keeps people safe during fires, power outages, and road closures. But the government spends only 3% of its ad budget on local stations. I want the government to shift more of its current ad spending to local Canadian radio.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, when the power goes out, when forest fires burn wild and the highways close, people in my riding tune in to their radio stations such as Moose FM and Le Loup. When rural Canadians travel to work, they listen to their radio. However, the government spends only 3% of its advertising budget on local Canadian radio. Without spending an extra dime, will the government give local radio its fair share of federal advertising?

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Madeleine Chenette

Liberal
“The media are important and need proper funding. Our budget supports local media so they can report fact-based news that helps Canadians understand local issues.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 47 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

    See full analysis
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that our media are important and that they need to be protected and properly funded. That is what our budget is doing, once again. We will support our local media and encourage them to produce fact-based news and data so that Canadians can better understand local realities.

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Gaétan Malette

Conservative
“The government should not spend more money, but spend what it already has better. Rural communities rely on local radio for news. I want the minister to spend more of the existing advertising money on local radio stations.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, this is about priorities. I am not asking the government to spend more. I am asking it to make better use of money that is already spent. Rural communities depend on local radio stations for breaking news. Will the minister commit to redirecting a greater share of existing advertising dollars to local radio?

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Madeleine Chenette

Liberal
“Our government supports local radio stations and journalists. We gave them money in the budget because Canadians need accurate local news.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 47 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

    See full analysis
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that question because it is certainly important for our government, without a doubt, to invest in local radio stations and journalists. That is exactly what we did once again in budget 2026. We are here to support the media, because they are such a force when it comes to gathering data and disseminating fact-based local news. Journalism is an extremely powerful tool for Canadians.

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