The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - First they denied it. Now they’re admitting it.

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprint. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm

00:00:13.780 your host, Jamie Schmael, member of Parliament for Halliburton Coeur of the Lakes, with new

00:00:17.140 content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. Don't forget to like, comment,

00:00:21.700 subscribe and share this program. Tell your friends to download it on platforms like Castbox,

00:00:25.860 iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. You name it, it is out there. On today's show, the CRTC is now

00:00:32.160 reviewing the Netflix tax, thanks to pressure put on by the Conservative opposition, and a prank

00:00:38.620 show from the CBC goes way too far to talk about this and so much more. We bring on the one and

00:00:44.740 only Rachel Thomas, the Member of Parliament for Lethbridge and also the critic for Heritage.

00:00:49.360 Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks, Jamie. Good to be with you. You've had a very busy file

00:00:52.700 lately. It's been a busy week, a busy couple of weeks I guess, but yeah it's been good. But you've

00:00:57.340 cut the pressure on, so let's talk about the Netflix tax. Sure. There was conversations about

00:01:02.220 the CRTC giving the green light to I think make regular people pay a little bit more unnecessarily

00:01:09.900 to go to for a whole bunch of things. Canadian culture and Canadian products and that kind of

00:01:15.020 thing. Tell us a bit about it. Sure, so basically what happened was a couple of weeks ago the CRTC

00:01:18.940 came out with a decision that they were going to up their original amount to a new amount.

00:01:23.680 So originally they said to Canadians months ago that they would apply this tax at a rate of 5%

00:01:29.240 and that would be applied to streaming companies here in Canada. And then they came out a couple

00:01:34.440 weeks ago and said actually they're going to triple it and it's going to be 15% and this is

00:01:38.200 the tax that's going to be applied to Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, etc. The problem with this of

00:01:44.500 course is that these companies are not going to absorb the cost. They are automatically going to

00:01:48.400 pass it down to the consumer. And so right away, within days of the announcement, we saw Spotify

00:01:53.320 sent out a notice to all of their subscribers and said that their rates would go up by July.

00:01:58.300 Soon, Disney Plus did the same, saying that their rates would also be going up right away.

00:02:02.680 And so we saw the impact immediately. When something like that happens, it matters because

00:02:09.280 it's the Canadian consumer that is ultimately at a disadvantage. The CRTC didn't need to make

00:02:16.560 this decision. They were not instructed to make this decision by the government. They made it

00:02:21.800 arbitrarily. Now, that said, the government does have the ability to step in and to say, whoa, whoa,

00:02:27.940 whoa, hold on here a moment. Actually, this isn't in the best interest of Canadian consumers,

00:02:32.260 and to actually instruct the CRTC to back off. So, Conservatives brought that forward, and we

00:02:38.980 implored the government to do that, to take action, to advocate on behalf of Canadians,

00:02:44.920 because ultimately it comes down to affordability.

00:02:47.920 And right now, Canadians, they're having a hard time

00:02:50.600 being able to afford necessities of life.

00:02:53.140 They go, they work hard, they come home,

00:02:55.660 they want to turn on the television

00:02:56.960 and maybe stream their favourite show

00:02:58.460 or listen to their favourite music on Spotify.

00:03:01.080 Now even that, with this tax,

00:03:03.120 was becoming less and less affordable.

00:03:05.360 So all that to say, Conservatives saw that problem

00:03:08.580 and so we went to the government

00:03:09.960 and we advocated with a motion,

00:03:12.480 asking for them to intervene on behalf of Canadians.

00:03:14.920 to ensure that the CRTC would actually repeal that tax increase

00:03:20.220 and act in the best interest of the consumer.

00:03:24.320 The Liberals came back to us and said they couldn't do that.

00:03:27.280 It wasn't within their power that the CRTC was an arm's length entity.

00:03:33.700 They told us that there was no means for them to intervene.

00:03:36.980 Why bother having elections?

00:03:38.300 Right?

00:03:39.780 And then they further told us it's not a tax.

00:03:43.060 They use words like fake, imaginary, made up to describe what we were talking about with regards to this price increase.

00:03:52.280 And then all of a sudden, just this week, so one week later, there's this announcement that comes out that actually the government can intervene and will intervene.

00:04:03.320 And so we've now found out that due to the pressure that's been applied to them, the government actually is telling the CRTC to suspend the tax and to review it.

00:04:13.000 And so clearly, Liberals were trying to mislead Canadians originally by telling them it couldn't be done.

00:04:18.880 However, they've since had to admit that, in fact, something can be done.

00:04:22.720 And so we're thankful for the public pressure that was applied.

00:04:25.780 Of course, my Conservative colleagues and I, you included, did a fair bit of work on the file in terms of shedding light on this issue.

00:04:31.680 And I think it's a win for Canadians.

00:04:33.520 Absolutely. And again, the government's death by a thousand cuts.

00:04:37.060 Let's put up some of these graphics here.

00:04:38.960 Death by a thousand cuts, right? 0.95

00:04:41.420 that groceries are too expensive. Rents, you know, mortgages, like it's all compounding.

00:04:48.540 And now with these subscriptions and, you know, God forbid the everyday Canadian gets to enjoy,

00:04:55.580 you know, an hour of time watching their favorite show, the government has to hit them again, right?

00:05:01.020 Right. Like put up the next graphic if you don't mind there, Peter. Oh, we have a clip here.

00:05:05.260 This is, let's go to the clip first. Play, cut one. This is the minister kind of walking this back.

00:05:11.260 There's a Canada U.S. trade issue, this is why I asked you.

00:05:14.520 No, but at its heart it's about the cultural sovereignty of the country.

00:05:17.160 I understand, I understand.

00:05:18.160 It was not passed in a way to enable or irritate trade partners.

00:05:23.260 It was, this legislation was adopted by Parliament and the CRTC in its independent discretion

00:05:29.560 made a decision about protecting Canadian cultural industries and Canada's cultural sovereignty.

00:05:37.160 Do you think that's what it did?

00:05:39.760 More money, right? More and more and more.

00:05:44.800 Absolutely. I would say actually, you know, here's what the Netflix tax increase did.

00:05:51.100 Instead, it drove up, it was going to drive up the cost for the consumer.

00:05:56.400 And to be fair, that damage is done. Spotify is not going to renege and all of a sudden bring down their rates.

00:06:01.720 Disney Plus is not going to renege and all of a sudden bring down their rates.

00:06:04.140 Like the damage has been done. That cost will now be passed on to the consumer thanks to the Liberal government's inaction.

00:06:09.760 So there's a massive cost to the consumer, then, that has to be incurred.

00:06:14.140 In addition to that, this type of taxation also drives investment out of the country.

00:06:19.580 It doesn't bring it in.

00:06:21.900 It doesn't create a stable environment.

00:06:24.440 Instead, it creates uncertainty.

00:06:27.680 As a result, then, you have job losses, you have a lack of capital investment, and altogether a harm that is done to our economy.

00:06:36.220 And then further to that, the United States of America warned us all along that the Online Streaming Act was a threat to our negotiations with them.

00:06:45.660 And then further to that, this tax being added on was a further irritant in our negotiations with them.

00:06:53.060 And so they issued a warning, a very strong warning to us to say that would be the impact of this.

00:06:59.100 again, the Liberal government originally turned a blind eye and said, nothing to see here out of

00:07:03.920 our control. And again, have since had to come back with their tail between their legs and admit

00:07:10.400 that in fact, they can do something about it and finally are. With every single crisis we see,

00:07:14.780 it seems to be a circle, right? Like, no, it's not happening. And then you push them a little

00:07:18.540 further. Okay, well, it's happening a little bit, but what are you going to do? Then the last one

00:07:23.120 is, okay, okay, it's happening a lot, but we're not going to talk about it. We'll just push it

00:07:27.840 to the side and then we start on the new thing again. Meanwhile, the government is bleeding

00:07:33.300 cash, right? They need some form of funds into the coffers here. We are, what are the deficits,

00:07:40.180 parliamentary budget officers said earlier this week that we're going to be like upwards of 70

00:07:44.860 billion dollars in the hole this year. It's absolutely insane. So the government needs

00:07:48.240 money somehow. So let's poke the Canadian consumer a little bit more and maybe soak a few more pennies

00:07:55.560 out of them. It's absolutely ridiculous. Well, and to be fair, you know, I should also make the 0.99

00:08:00.440 point that when the government announced that they would instruct the CRTC to review this

00:08:08.320 taxation, they also announced that they would be taking $600 million and infusing the cultural

00:08:15.380 sector with an additional allotment of money. $600 million. That doesn't come from the government.

00:08:22.220 That comes from taxpayers. So, taxpayers are still put at a significant disadvantage

00:08:29.140 because of this government's decisions. They are now on the hook for $600 million. That's a lot of

00:08:35.980 cash. Yeah, that is a lot of cash. All right. So, CRTC is reviewing. So, it's lingering. It's not

00:08:44.720 done yet. Correct. Okay. It's lingering. So, we could be doing a follow-up very soon. For sure.

00:08:49.960 So, I mean, again, yeah, exactly.

00:08:51.940 So, the Liberal government has instructed the CRTC to review the terms of this taxation and essentially come back to the table.

00:09:00.060 And so, we're waiting to see what that next proposal is.

00:09:03.420 Sticking with our national broadcaster here, this is absolutely insane what the next topic is.

00:09:10.400 And I can't even believe that we have to talk about it.

00:09:13.060 So, the national broadcaster has this show that scams people.

00:09:19.440 We have a few graphics here. In this case, it was RCMP officers. So they call people up and say,

00:09:26.740 we want to make a tribute to the RCMP. Thank you for your service. We'll get a bunch of you together

00:09:30.980 and we'll give you medals. I think there was a fake Prince William or something involved.

00:09:36.340 Absolutely incredible. So all these RCMP officers are going to be honored for their service

00:09:40.060 and they get out, they're supposed to get on stage and they're just supposed to be shamed

00:09:45.480 for what they did. Absolutely insanity. And your taxpayer dollars paid for this.

00:09:51.080 How did you deal with this in committee? Like, how did, like, when you first read this,

00:09:56.840 what was your reaction? And then how did you deal with it at committee?

00:10:00.640 Yeah, so a number of weeks ago, it came to light that the CBC, in partnership with ATPN,

00:10:07.620 put together this show that would be focused on different tales, as they called it,

00:10:13.980 with regards to Canadian culture. And so one of the shows would deal with residential schools

00:10:19.740 and one of the shows would deal with Sir John A. Macdonald and the history of Canada. Sorry,

00:10:24.260 actually those two went together. Another show would deal with RCMP and their place in Canada's

00:10:29.620 history. Now, in no way were they looking to celebrate the RCMP. However, they promised that

00:10:38.220 that was what in fact they were going to do. And so RCMP veterans were lured under the false

00:10:43.800 pretense that they were being invited to come in their red surge. They would be a part of an

00:10:48.520 honoring ceremony at the CBC studio. They were told that they would be asked questions with

00:10:53.940 regards to their duties. And ultimately, it was meant to be a show that really highlighted the

00:11:00.280 good work of the RCMP. That was the pretense under which they showed up. And so, unfortunately,

00:11:08.700 though what happened was once these veterans came and took their place on the stage uh they were

00:11:15.200 braided they were ridiculed they were made fun of they were mocked um and and ultimately shamed

00:11:22.200 for their role in the rcmp and you know taking their duties seriously to serve and protect

00:11:28.580 canadians and and and this was done under the excuse that it was just really meant to be

00:11:35.960 satirical in nature. I don't really see the humor. So this is what the CBC said, right? They said it

00:11:42.740 was just meant to be pure entertainment value. It was meant to be, you know, fun and games. It was

00:11:48.420 meant to be lighthearted. It was, you know, a fun pitch that took place at a media summit of sorts.

00:11:59.560 That was the excuse. That was the excuse. But ultimately, at the end of the day, what resulted

00:12:03.880 it is you have, you know, these RCMP veterans who showed up in good faith to speak to the issue at

00:12:12.140 hand and supposedly to be honored. And in fact, were made fun of. And so, of course, you can

00:12:19.060 imagine that has caused a great deal of harm to those individuals. And as a result now, there's

00:12:26.240 There's a court case that is being developed with the RCMP and the CBC and ATPN.

00:12:34.200 And, you know, fortunately that, you know, this came to light and due to public pressure, the show has now been suspended, but not cancelled.

00:12:45.020 Not cancelled.

00:12:45.620 Not cancelled.

00:12:46.280 Like the moral compass isn't great enough to cancel it, just to suspend it.

00:12:51.760 And so I think we have to watch carefully to make sure that it actually doesn't all of a sudden, you know, take on a life of its own and come back again.

00:13:00.760 Yeah, this humiliation is not funny.

00:13:02.560 We have another graphic here, but an RCMP officer talking about being humiliated. 0.99

00:13:08.160 This is absolutely insane because our tax dollars are paying for this garbage. 0.96

00:13:12.320 Yes, and that's the other point that has to be made. This is a public broadcaster that Canadians pay for to the tune of $1.6 billion annually. And so Canadians are being forced to pay for this type of content, which I think most Canadians would be absolutely disgusted by. 0.97

00:13:31.380 And there's no real consequences because this government's not going to do anything about it,

00:13:35.700 but there's no consequences, right?

00:13:36.980 Like any other private network, they'd see a loss of viewership

00:13:40.600 and people would be angry and protesting.

00:13:43.240 Advertisers would pull and you'd have to figure something out real quick, right?

00:13:48.080 You'd have to get those advertisers back.

00:13:49.960 You'd have to apologize, do something grand.

00:13:51.980 The CBC just, ah, next, right?

00:13:56.000 Like there's no consequences.

00:13:57.740 The management's probably going to get a big bonus.

00:14:00.220 Like, this is how the government system works. 0.96

00:14:03.780 They give you the garbage, whether you want it or not, and you have no choice.

00:14:08.140 And there's no consequences for poor performance and poor products.

00:14:12.740 That is correct right now, but it's not the way that it has to be.

00:14:15.240 I agree, yes.

00:14:15.900 There can be consequences, because there can be accountability.

00:14:19.720 So the head of the CBC is held accountable, should be held accountable, is what I should say, by the Minister of Heritage.

00:14:28.560 ultimately he is the one that she answers to in terms of her job and in terms of program content

00:14:35.680 and the way that it is executed at the end of the day the minister has shrugged his shoulders and

00:14:40.600 turned a blind eye to this just you know just just recently we brought this forward at committee

00:14:46.260 and I asked for I put forward a motion to study this to bring forward the CEO of the CDC and ATPN

00:14:54.140 as well as the Minister for Heritage so that we would have the opportunity to ask questions and

00:14:58.400 shed light on this issue. This is something that the RCMP has asked for, the Federation of Police

00:15:04.760 has asked for. And so advocating for them, this was the request that I had, which shouldn't be

00:15:12.200 a problem. Like transparency and accountability should be a no-brainer on this. And unfortunately,

00:15:20.580 however, the Liberals spoke out against my motion and then every single one of them voted against,

00:15:26.280 you know, engaging in robust debate and moving forward. So I don't know, like, what's being

00:15:36.180 hidden here? Why are the Liberals so opposed to there being, you know, transparency around this

00:15:42.240 issue? Why aren't they concerned about the way that RCMP veterans were treated in this case?

00:15:48.960 I'm confused by that. Yeah, you think they'd want to get to the body.

00:15:52.720 Totally. Why wouldn't you?

00:15:53.500 Well, they don't really care, right?

00:15:55.060 Because, yeah, it shamed RCMP officers.

00:15:58.560 It seemed to, I don't know why.

00:16:00.000 You're right.

00:16:00.420 Why would they not want to get involved?

00:16:02.260 Why would they not want to see what's going on?

00:16:04.140 Totally.

00:16:04.620 So this also came to light, public pressure and a whole bunch of other things.

00:16:09.460 There was a woman that was lured.

00:16:12.100 She was an author of a few books on Sir John A.

00:16:15.460 Let's give up cut two.

00:16:16.380 under false pretenses lured to this this studio and and actually had the the ability they tried

00:16:26.080 to confiscate her phone from what i understand she managed to keep it used i have to get my meds i

00:16:31.260 need my purse they gave her a purse she grabbed her phone started broadcasting live through social

00:16:36.520 media and caught this so they actually just fumbled themselves so let's play cut two former 0.99

00:16:44.040 University professor Frances Widdowson took this live stream. She says she was targeted for her 1.00

00:16:49.340 views on Canada's residential schools by a satirical prank show funded in part by CBC

00:16:54.360 Entertainment, an arm of the public broadcaster. Expose me. For the CBC to participate in that,

00:17:00.140 I think it's disgraceful. This seems to be a setup of some outfit that's doing a reality

00:17:05.780 television show that wants to paint me, I guess, as some kind of a racist or something that they're

00:17:13.820 going to post on social media what's your name sir mike smith mike smith yeah clearly did not go

00:17:22.120 as planned clearly like you can see the awkwardness not just of the supposed host but the the people

00:17:28.820 behind the scenes going what do we do now but it was live broadcast they couldn't cut her off they

00:17:34.280 couldn't like forcibly take it from her like their cover was blown but just unbelievable what they did

00:17:41.120 And how intimidating would it be?

00:17:44.220 Looking at that photo, it was a quick glance, not the whole room, but a quick glance.

00:17:48.420 It looked like there was all men in that room.

00:17:51.980 Probably all alone.

00:17:53.280 It looked like she was all alone.

00:17:54.740 Had nothing to call for help with except for the foresight to grab her purse 0.65

00:17:59.320 because she said she needed her meds.

00:18:02.280 Otherwise, how did she feel as a woman in that situation?

00:18:06.920 And CBC had no problem with this.

00:18:09.500 Yeah.

00:18:10.520 Unbelievable.

00:18:11.400 I think, again, you're raising good concerns, right?

00:18:15.440 She was, Frances Whittleson was invited on the show given her academic expertise with regards to the residential schools.

00:18:22.680 And she was asked to speak to its history and as well as, you know, the history of Sir Johnny MacDonald as the founder of Canada.

00:18:31.920 she agreed in good faith to go and to offer her insights, her perspective as an academic on the

00:18:40.320 topic. And then, you know, she essentially was lambasted for her views, her beliefs. She was

00:18:49.540 made fun of, she was ridiculed. And to your point, her phone was taken away. With regards to the show

00:18:55.320 that was done on RCMP officers, the same was done to them. Their phones were taken away so that they

00:18:59.080 wouldn't have the opportunity to record anything in order to generate any level of accountability

00:19:04.060 or transparency around what was going on. So obviously the CBC here, you know, I think

00:19:09.540 functioned in a way that lacked any sort of moral standard. I would say that, you know,

00:19:17.760 in terms of just their ability to bring people onto the show, they couldn't do it under true,

00:19:24.480 with the truth. And so they had to lie. They used false pretenses telling people that they

00:19:30.180 were coming for one thing, but in fact, it was another. And so when CBC, you know, when the

00:19:36.100 CBC operates like that, of course, you know, that harms trust, trust in the organization.

00:19:42.660 And we see that. We see how viewership is plummeting with the CBC. We see how trust in its

00:19:48.480 news broadcasting is down. We see how ad revenue is down because why would advertisers place their

00:19:55.520 ads there if they're not able to bring eyeballs and they're not able to bring eyeballs because

00:19:59.220 they're not trusted. So it's these types of, you know, juvenile actions that bring about that

00:20:08.340 result. And we, the taxpayers, the Canadian taxpayers are on the hook for that. So the CBC

00:20:14.180 is, you know, in many ways a failing organization or institution, but propped up by taxpayer dollars,

00:20:22.820 you know, they seem to be doing okay. I don't know that that would be the case if they were

00:20:28.400 a private institution. Yeah, you can never lose. If you're paid for by the taxpayer,

00:20:32.800 you'll never lose. It doesn't matter if the product is good or not, you can never lose.

00:20:38.100 And that's the thing, we as Conservatives are just, I think, to your point about the declining ratings that CBC and other media is having, not just in Canada, but around the world, it's because of that trust issue, right?

00:20:52.420 Like, I don't think any Conservatives are saying, you need to put all Conservatives in a positive light, you know, all the time, right?

00:20:59.060 They're just saying, just be neutral.

00:21:01.400 Neutral observers calling balls and strikes.

00:21:03.520 That's what the media is supposed to do, present both sides and let the individual make up his or her own mind.

00:21:10.040 And that's traditionally the way it used to be.

00:21:12.900 But up in the last maybe seven years or so, it's gone from journalism to activism.

00:21:18.700 And that's when the ratings really started to go down because people recognized what they were being fed was not a neutral observation of the situation at hand.

00:21:29.840 Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it.

00:21:31.480 You know, I certainly have heard from many folks who have written to my office or called my office with regards to this issue, feeling absolutely disgusted by what happened.

00:21:47.300 And interestingly enough, I'm hearing from many individuals who actually would traditionally support the CBC and turn to the CBC for their news or maybe for other programming as well.

00:21:58.400 and and they're they're discouraged they're put off by this type of conduct um and so there's

00:22:05.960 you know there's there's some big questions that need to be asked however uh if we're not able to

00:22:11.700 bring the cbc atpn and the minister to committee to ask those questions then then there really is

00:22:19.580 no accountability there's no transparency around this issue and what was done to these folks who

00:22:24.460 showed up in good faith to be a part of these shows. Yeah, unbelievable. Well, thanks for

00:22:28.320 everything you're doing. We're about out of time. Sure. We've actually gone a little over,

00:22:32.540 but do appreciate the conversation. As you know, the guests always get the last word. You've been

00:22:36.880 on the show many times before, so the floor is yours. Oh, fantastic. Well, thank you. You know

00:22:41.780 what? I mean, really, I think both of these instances, you know, so you have the Netflix

00:22:46.220 tax, which was put forward by the CRTC. Conservatives, you know, demanded that the

00:22:51.100 government do something about it, which is in their prerogative to do. They said no, then eventually

00:22:56.660 backpedaled and said, okay, fine, we can do something and we will do something about it,

00:23:00.460 thanks to the pressure of conservatives and the Canadian public. So you have that. And then you

00:23:04.900 also have these prank shows that are being put together by the CBC, where people are being lured

00:23:09.740 in to be on these shows under false pretenses, and then exploited, made fun of, ridiculed.

00:23:16.540 I think in both of these instances, what is common is the trust of the Canadian public and whether or not they can take the government at its word.

00:23:25.540 The government knew that it could intervene with regards to the CRTC decision and the Netflix tax, but tried to pass it off as if they couldn't.

00:23:35.000 Simultaneously, the government can intervene and hold the CBC to account with regards to this show.

00:23:39.800 and in doing so could actually regain a bit of trust, I think, but is refusing to do so.

00:23:46.920 And so I think really in both of these instances, you know, the damage lies at the feet of the government

00:23:53.700 because they're just shrugging their shoulders, shaking their hands and saying, not our problem.

00:23:58.500 With all due respect, it is their problem and they have the ability and I would dare say the responsibility to intervene on behalf of Canadians.

00:24:05.500 I completely agree.

00:24:06.800 Rachel Thomas, Member of Parliament for Lethbridge,

00:24:09.020 also the Shadow Minister for Heritage.

00:24:11.200 We appreciate your time, as always, for coming on the show.

00:24:14.080 We appreciate yours as well.

00:24:15.940 Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share this program

00:24:18.800 because we will have new content for you every single Tuesday,

00:24:22.120 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time.

00:24:23.380 And tell your friends to download it on platforms like CastBox, iTunes,

00:24:26.700 Google Play, and Spotify.

00:24:28.100 You name it, it is out there.

00:24:29.540 I guarantee you this is a message you are not getting in the mainstream media,

00:24:33.060 So we need to get that word out and we need your help once again.

00:24:37.000 Until next week, remember low taxes, less government, more freedom.

00:24:40.580 That's the blueprints.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - June 09, 2026

First they denied it. Now they’re admitting it.

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