Canada Prioritizes Eurovision Over Disinformation Efforts, Ottawa Critics Say

Federal Government Prioritizes Eurovision Over Struggling Canadian Multicultural Media

The Canadian government has turned its back on the critical needs of local and multicultural media in favor of funding projects like the Eurovision Song Contest, according to industry advocates who have spent years attempting to secure support for struggling third-language community television programs.

For the past two years, representatives from Canada’s diverse media landscape have engaged with the Department of Canadian Heritage, providing research and proposing solutions to address the imminent collapse of independent third-language community television. These programs deliver content in more than 75 languages including Ukrainian, Punjabi, Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, and Italian, serving millions of Canadians across the country.

Despite these efforts, the government maintains there is “lots of support” already available for such media outlets. Industry insiders counter that this claim is disconnected from reality, pointing to the stark contrast between the lack of funding for multicultural media and the government’s willingness to financially back a Canadian contestant in the European singing competition.

The crisis comes at a time when local journalism faces unprecedented challenges nationwide. Recent data underscores the severity of the situation, with an Ipsos study from this year revealing that 87% of Canadians consider local news essential for a functioning democracy. This sentiment is particularly significant in metropolitan areas like Toronto and Vancouver, where nearly half the population speaks a language other than English or French at home.

Despite this clear public interest, third-language community media organizations remain completely excluded from federal support programs designed to bolster Canadian journalism. This exclusion creates a dangerous information vacuum in multicultural communities across the country.

“These programs are the front line against disinformation,” explains Igor Malakhov, executive director of the “Empower Canadian Ethnic Media” campaign and editor-in-chief of Vestnik.ca, a Russian-language television program. “When trusted local voices go silent, the vacuum is filled by foreign propaganda designed to manipulate diaspora audiences.”

Malakhov speaks from experience, having received training in propaganda techniques while studying journalism in Moscow during the early 1990s. “We were taught how to blend truth and manipulation to make propaganda believable,” he reveals. “That same formula now fuels online misinformation, amplified by AI and social media algorithms.”

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has issued warnings about increasing foreign interference activity by state actors within Canada. This makes the government’s apparent indifference to supporting third-language media particularly troubling from a national security perspective.

Within their respective communities, anchors and journalists from these multicultural outlets carry the same level of recognition and trust that mainstream figures like former CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge built with English-speaking audiences. This established credibility represents a crucial bulwark against misinformation campaigns targeting specific cultural communities.

Media experts argue that the most effective defense against disinformation isn’t technological solutions like AI filters or additional regulatory task forces, but rather robust local journalism with deep community connections and established trust. When these trusted voices disappear, communities become more vulnerable to foreign influence operations.

The stakes extend beyond cultural representation to Canada’s information security. If these third-language community programs vanish due to lack of support, Canada risks surrendering the information space of its multicultural communities to potentially hostile foreign actors eager to exploit these openings.

Industry advocates emphasize that once trust in authentic local voices erodes, no technological solution or regulatory framework can easily restore it. They call for not only preserving existing multicultural media but helping these outlets transition successfully into the digital and AI-driven landscape—ensuring Canadian voices in every language remain trusted, visible and free from foreign influence.

As local community journalism continues to struggle across Canada, the government’s funding priorities remain a source of frustration for those fighting to preserve this vital component of the country’s democratic infrastructure and cultural fabric.