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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Right wing scam artists

OPINION

Canadian Taxpayers Federation has 5 members — why should we care what they think?


The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation has been around since the late 1980s, selling itself as a populist "citizens advocacy group" looking to cut waste and ensure accountability in government.
They get acres of free coverage in newspapers and on local and national newscasts; their spokespeople regularly get more coverage than elected officials.
Perhaps the CTF gets the coverage it does because it is seen as less biased than politicians — it is seen as advocating for taxpayers against all politicians, on the right and left.
The CTF's media presence is truly remarkable when you consider it has a membership of five people. You read that correctly: five.
This might come as a surprise, but the CTF is not now, nor has it ever been, a grassroots, member-based organization where anyone can pay $10 to sign up (or sign up free) and have a say in how the organization is run.
Instead, it has supporters — about 90,000 of them, who, like followers on Facebook, can like, comment, answer surveys and make donations, but they have no actual say in how the organization is run.

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