Aspers and Harper, a Toried Love Ties That Bind Canwest to the Conservatives
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Aspers and Harper, A Toried Love Ties that bind CanWest to the Conservatives. View full article and comments here http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/11/13/ToriedLove/ By Marc Edge Published: November 13, 2007 TheTyee.ca [Editor's note: This is the first of four excerpts from Marc Edge's new book Asper Nation: Canada's Most Dangerous Media Company.] Its final report on the news media in Canada was not released by the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications until June of 2006. It had been more than three years since the study was conceived. It had been disbanded twice while Parliament was dissolved for federal elections. In the end, the Senate report was released by a new committee chair, Lise Bacon, as the term of Senator Joan Fraser had expired. The political landscape onto which the report landed had also been radically altered by the federal election earlier that year. After more than a dozen years of Liberal rule, a minority Conservative government came to power that February under Stephen Harper. A deregulationist regime in Ottawa meant that any prescription the senators might have had for legislative reform of Canada's news media ownership had little hope of being adopted. Perhaps that was why they proposed such modest measures to curb the growing power of Canada's media giants. The likelihood of any limits on media ownership being enacted by the new ruling party in Ottawa also grew scant for another reason. The Asper heirs had moved almost as close to the Conservatives as their father had been to the Liberal party. One senior editor at Global Television even ran in the 2006 election as a Conservative candidate in Toronto with Asper blessing. A new chairman of CanWest's corporate board came directly from Tory ranks and aligned the Aspers uncomfortably close for some with the new party in power. A CanWest executive was discovered helping to fundraise for the Conservative cabinet minister in charge of broadcasting. Parliament Hill reporters for CanWest News proved more co- operative than most with the media management tactics of the new Tory government. Then, in early 2007, CanWest expanded its communication empire by another quantum leap amid protests over increased ownership concentration. The acquisition also flouted Canada's foreign ownership limits, which the Aspers had long opposed. A revelation made during the 2004 election campaign should have set off alarm bells that a political sea change was under way with a new generation of Aspers. CanWest's corporate helicopter had been used to ferry a harried Harper above Toronto traffic on his way to an appearance in Hamilton. As Toronto Star media columnist Antonia Zerbisias noted, the favor was business as usual for broadcasters. Both CanWest and CTV contributed generously to the campaign funds of both the Liberal and Conservative parties, she pointed out. "Perhaps it's not so surprising that some very controversial media issues are not being discussed during this campaign." Power of the press The political problem of media regulation had been identified more than three decades earlier by Keith Davey, the first senator in Canada to take on Big Media. He became concerned in the late 1960s about increased control of Canada's press by large newspaper chains like Southam, Thomson, and FP Publications. Davey first considered Parliament the appropriate body to conduct an inquiry into press concentration. He soon realized, however, that appointed senators would be better insulated from editorial pressure brought by publishers. His concerns were confirmed, Davey noted, by the easy passage through an elected U.S. Senate of the Newspaper Preservation Act in 1969. The NPA exempted from U.S. anti-trust laws dozens of newspapers that had been illegally sharing production facilities, fixing advertising rates, and pooling profits in arrangements similar to Vancouver's Pacific Press. President Richard Nixon's flip-flop on the issue, according to Davey, justified his concern. "Politicians looking to re-election," he noted, "must depend substantially upon the mass media in the very real world of practical politics." Nixon was re-elected with the highest modern level of newspaper endorsements despite his government's unprecedented press censorship in the Pentagon Papers case and a simmering Watergate scandal. Davey struck a Special Senate Subcommittee on Mass Media that forced media companies to open their books. It described what it found as "astonishing." Media owners were making enormous profits, Davey's committee found. More delicious was the secrecy surrounding their financial success. "An industry that is supposed to abhor secrets is sitting on one of the best-kept, least-discussed secrets, one of the hottest scoops, in the entire field of Canadian business -- their own balance sheets." From 1958 to 1967, before-tax profits at Canadian newspapers ranged from 23.4 percent to 30.5 percent. After taxes, they were 12.3-17.5 percent, compared to 9.2-10.4 percent in other manufacturing and retailing industries. "Owning a newspaper, in other words, can be almost twice as profitable as owning a paper-box factory or a department store," observed the senators. Davey's committee proposed several steps to remedy the problem of media concentration. A Press Ownership Review Board would have had the power to block newspaper sales or mergers that increased concentration. A system of subsidies would have encouraged the founding of alternative publications. Despite generating considerable debate for a number of years, however, neither proposal was enacted. It was disappointing for senators who had hoped to stem the tide of ownership concentration before economic forces overtook the media irreversibly. "We had to conclude that we have in this country not the press we need, but rather the press we deserve," Davey recalled in his memoirs. "The sad fact is that the media must self-regulate because most Canadians are not prepared to demand the press they need." Conservative coziness David Asper endorsed the candidacy of Global executive Peter Kent, who had taken a leave of absence to run in the 2006 federal election for the Conservatives in Toronto. Kent made headlines during the campaign with allegations of media bias in favor of the Liberals, for which he urged journalism schools to monitor election news. When he failed to win a seat, Kent returned to CanWest Global as its deputy editor-in-chief in charge of current affairs coverage and documentary development. Izzy Asper's sons were never as slavish in their support of the Liberals as their father had been. David Asper had even pointed out the "political diversity" within the family in 2001. "I happen to carry provincial and federal political party memberships which are not of the Liberal party," he told an audience in Calgary. "Not one of my critics cared, for example, to take note of my publicized endorsement of former Manitoba Conservative premier Gary Filmon." Asper noted that CanWest had spread its political contributions well beyond just the Liberals, following ideological rather than party lines. "We have provided significant financial support for both the Alliance federally and the Progressive Conservatives provincially," he said. "We are driven by policy ideas and innovation and not by some blind political loyalty." As the 2006 federal election approached, David Asper dispelled any doubt that might have remained about his political leanings. At a campaign rally, he joined Harper onstage to endorse his candidacy. The open declaration of personal support for a politician was something new for media owners in Canada. "You have to wonder about the wisdom of Mr. Asper's endorsement of Mr. Harper," noted Christopher Dornan, director of Carleton University's journalism school. "Not from Mr. Asper's point of view, but from Mr. Harper's. Why invite accusations of having the press in your pocket?" After the Conservatives came to power, the links between CanWest and the new ruling party became uncomfortably close for some. It was revealed that CanWest's vice-president of regulatory affairs, Charlotte Bell, helped organize a $250-a-plate dinner for Heritage Minister Bev Oda. A former CanWest executive, Oda's portfolio included responsibility for media. That August, CanWest named Derek Burney as its new chairman, finally filling the vacancy created by Izzy Asper's 2003 death. Burney had been Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney's chief of staff in the 1980s and later his ambassador to the U.S. It was his most recent position, however, that some felt made Burney a bit too close to the new government. As head of Harper's transition team to power, they pointed out, Burney provided the perfect conduit for CanWest to the new ruling party in Ottawa. "There is no question that his extensive experience and connections within government are exceptionally valuable," noted Maclean's. The political coziness was questionable, however, due to CanWest's reliance on federal regulators for the profitability of its billion-dollar business. "It ties the media companies into an existing social network of decision-makers that affect policy and government regulation in Canada," noted Carleton communication professor Dwayne Winseck. For some critics of CanWest, Burney's appointment was going too far. "I don't think that people prominently associated with one political party are appropriate people to chair the board of a media company," said Russell Mills. "It doesn't create the right climate for journalists to work in." Senate report on news media The 2006 Senate report on news media stopped short of urging the breakup of Big Media by recommending that a ban on cross ownership be re-instituted. Instead it suggested the Competition Bureau review future news media mergers to prevent dominance by one owner in any market. It recommended automatic review above a certain concentration threshold, mentioning an audience share of 35 percent.