Canada's heritage minister in hot water over fundraising

by Kaitlin | May 4, 2007 at 08:52 am

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Canadian Heritage Minister (and copyright czar) Bev Oda has come under some intense scrutiny under revelations that there was some sketchy fundraising last fall. Essentially it breaks down to this: Oda is trying to pass legislation related to copyright and fair use that would push Canada in a more American direction--that is, to benefit copyright holders (broadcasters, big media, The Man) more than users or the general public. A fundraiser was scheduled last fall and then canceled after critics pointed out the closeness of the fundraiser to a national broadcasting review. Supposedly Oda returned the contributions that were made to her at that point, but new reports say that they perhaps weren't returned...and that those donations came from some broadcasting folks who had a stake in the review weeks later.

Were these contributions associated with the cancelled fundraiser and actually not returned as Minister Baird told the House of Commons? Part of a separate radio-oriented fundraiser? Separate contributions from senior broadcast executives coincidentally made weeks before the CRTC announced the results of its commercial radio policy review? While the distinction matters with regard to accuracy of the Baird response, in the bigger picture it looks bad under any explanation. There was presumably nothing unlawful about accepting several thousand dollars from broadcast executives, yet surely the Minister of Canadian Heritage or her riding association, elected on a platform of political accountability, should not be cashing cheques from the very industry that she regulates.

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