Very Little Media Coverage of Federal Spending Announcements on Child Care, Pharma Care, and Dental Care

“The federal government has launched three large, and very costly social programs in recent years, but Canadians—many of whom rely on television news for their information—have not been given adequate information about the costs or how they will be paid for,” said Lydia Miljan, senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and author of Media Coverage of Federal Spending Announcements on Child Care, Pharma Care, and Dental Care.

The study, a content analysis of CTV and CBC television news coverage from 2021 to 2024, finds that of all the coverage that focused on the three new government programs, just 4.1 per cent of CTV coverage, and just 3.7 per cent of CBC television coverage reported the specific costs of the programs.

In addition, there were only five mentions on CBC and two mentions on CTV that these new programs created new permanent spending, which contradicts the Finance Minister’s mandate letter, that she “avoid creating new permanent spending.”

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