One of things that stuck with me from my Carleton University masters of journalism was a teacher saying “journalism doesn’t tell us what to think – but it tells us what to think about.”
That’s called framing and it’s a key tool powerful groups use to sideline “undesirable” topics.
One of the most powerful forms of framing is the “common enemy” method which involves rallying people to fight a common enemy, while sidelining almost every other issue while doing so. For example, Black people were drafted to fight for “freedom” in international conflicts like World Wars I and II or the Vietnam War, and asked to put their concerns about the racism they faced at home aside “for the greater good”. This is also very common in popular culture, especially apocalyptic TVs shows and movies, where people are united in fighting off threats like zombies and no one raises uncomfortable topics like racism.
We’re seeing this now as the Government of Canada rallies Canadians to fight the attacks by US President Donald Trump, resulting in the government adopting the following priorities, which are an example of framing:
- Strengthening Canada’s economic and security relationship with the United States and our global allies
- Building a unified Canadian economy by removing inter-provincial trade barriers and advancing nation-building infrastructure
- Addressing cost-of-living concerns and helping Canadians get ahead
- Making housing more affordable through public-private innovation and skilled trade development
- Reinforcing national sovereignty and safety through investments in the military, border security, and law enforcement
- Attracting top global talent while ensuring sustainable immigration levels
- Reducing government operational spending to unlock greater investment in people, communities, and a stronger G7-leading economy
I recently attended a meeting hosted by the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities focussed on the Government of Canada’s 2025 budget. The aim was to discuss doing a joint submission to the government citing the priorities of Canada’s Black communities. We were asked to provide feedback that aligned with the government’s stated priorities, however, the feedback we provided challenged those priorities. Primarily, we challenged the absence of any mention of human rights or closing corporate tax loopholes. We challenged the frame.
Human rights aren’t optional. They’re legally protected at every level, giving Canada legal obligations to fulfill them. So, for example, adding Black Canadians as a distinct group under the federal Employment Equity Act, as the Trudeau Liberals committed to doing in December 2023, isn’t just a nice thing to do. It supports Canada’s legal obligation under the Canadian Human Rights Act to prevent race-based discrimination in employment. Similarly, implementing Canada’s Black Justice Strategy supports Canada’s international and national legal human rights obligations in areas such as immigration, housing and justice.
The lack of any mention of closing corporate tax loopholes among the government’s priorities is a decades old example of framing. Pro-business interests have successfully managed to steer the debate about government finances in one primary direction: reducing government spending while minimizing any mention of closing corporate tax loopholes or raising corporate taxes. This is despite the fact that, according to the Centre for Policy Alternatives’ 2019 pamphlet Fair and Progressive Taxation, “Canada’s tax system is…riddled with expensive loopholes that worsen inequalities. We lose an estimated $47 billion annually to tax evasion, while Canadian companies have nearly $300 billion hiding in known tax havens.”
Canadians for Tax Fairness’ 2021 Corporations pay your fair share! states, “The PBO [Parliamentary Budget Office] estimates that every percentage increase in the general corporate tax rate increases [government] revenues by $1.6 billion, so restoring Canada’s federal rate from 15% to 20% would generate about $8 billion annually.”
But instead of raising taxes on corporations and wealthy Canadians, Prime Minister Mark Carey is doing the opposite. In March 2025, Carney announced he would cancel a proposed capital gains tax increase. According to a March 2025 CBC article, “The decision to axe the increase follows former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to defer it until New Year’s Day 2026. The increase to the share of taxable capital gains was first announced in the 2024 federal budget. A capital gain is the difference between the cost of an asset — such as an investment property, a stock or a mutual fund — and its sale price. Right now, only half of capital gains are taxable. Those capital gains are added to a person’s income and are taxed at their marginal income tax rate. Had the changes gone through, individuals with annual capital gains over $250,000 would have had two-thirds of those gains taxed. Two-thirds of all capital gains earned by corporations and trusts would also have been taxed.”
This should be an important topic of discussion but it’s not because it’s been framed out of the debate.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce policy chief Matthew Holmes called on Carney to make the business of government business and act on issues such as regulatory reform and trade diversification. Based on the government’s stated priorities, Carney seems to have given Holmes what he wanted.
In a May 2025 Financial Post article titled ‘CEO Carney’ to run Canada like a business, Terence Corcoron said, “The image of Prime Minister Carney as chief executive of the national economy was also fostered a few days ago by New Brunswick Liberal MP Wayne Long [who] said that the federal government under Carney will be run more like a business than it was under Justin Trudeau.”
But the government is very different from business in one key way: it can raise money through taxation. So if Carney keeps trying to pay for things by cutting government but not raising taxes on wealthy corporations and individuals that will really show what his priorities are.