How soon before we have the Canadian version of DOGE?
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) contributed $1,623,711 in taxpayer money to BBC Media Action, the charitable branch of the BBC, between 2023 and 2024, mainly for DEI initiatives in Africa, according to a new report by True North Wire.
Despite this, the GAC website listed only one BBC Media Action project this year, which cost just over $1.5 million.
The report notes that GAC allocated most of its $1.5 million contribution to Tanzania’s “Broadcasting for Change: Empowering Young Women Through Media” initiative.
Although $2.12 million was budgeted for 2023-2024, only $1,536,981 was transferred. The programme funded the youth radio programme Niambie, which aimed to change attitudes towards gender equality and promote the social, economic and political rights of young women. When asked about nearly $100,000 of unaccounted money, GAC asked for an indefinite extension to respond.
GAC praised the impact of the program, citing radio content about women’s rights, DEI training for media workers and reports that 91% of listeners showed gender awareness of gender equality, 42% used counseling services. This is in line with Canada’s feminist international aid policy, which cost $15.5 billion between 2022 and 2023 alone.
True North’s critics questioned the spending. “Canadians should not be forced to pay for our own national broadcasting, and certainly our tax dollars should not go anywhere near the state broadcaster of another country,” said Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, calling the GAC “one of the worst waste offenders in the entire government.”
He added: “Since the government has more than $1 trillion in debt, we need to open books and cut wasteful spending in every department, and that certainly includes Global Affairs Canada.”
GAC has made similar spending in the past. Between 2016 and 2020, it provided $4.8 million to BBC Media Action’s “Her Voice, Her Rights,” a media education initiative for gender equality in Afghanistan.
In October 2024, True North reported that GAC spent more than $3 million on alcohol, with GAC refusing to respond before publication. Other reported expenses included an $8,800 sex toy show in Germany, a $12,500 chat show where retirees discussed sex in Taiwan, Austria and Australia, and a $51,000 monthly bar card.
