OTTAWA — Culture Minister Marc Miller accused a Conservative MP Thursday of misleading a Parliamentary committee by claiming a comment from the head of an independent producers’ group in support of the government was made on behalf of the news media.

“The job of these people is to make shows. Like with puppets,” Miller said to MP Rachael Thomas.

“I think you’re wrong and I think you know it.”

At issue were comments made by Reynolds Mastin, the president and CEO of the Canadian Media Producers Association, which represents independent TV and film producers. At the Prime Time conference in Ottawa in late January, Mastin introduced Prime Minister Mark Carney at one event.

A key issue at the conference was funding for Canadian content in the Online Streaming Act, and in his opening words Mastin told Carney that “every person in this room and the 180 thousand people who work in this industry have your back, just as we know that you have ours.”

The Conservatives almost immediately jumped on the line, sending out a fundraising missive accusing the Liberals of having “mainstream media on their side.” Thomas also raised the issue at the recent Conservative Party convention.

Thomas raised it again to Miller at a Heritage Committee meeting on Thursday.

“The role of the media is to be truthful in storytelling, to report the news as Canadians deserve to have it told,” Thomas told Thursday’s committee hearing.

Miller said Thomas was framing the comment as having come from a representative of the news media.

“You’re making this up … you’re insinuating that it’s journalists that are going to spin stories positively for the prime minister because they, quote-unquote, have his back,” Miller said.

“That’s entirely false. These are producers of shows like The Littlest Hobo, for God’s sake.”

Miller also said the comments were made in the context of trade negotiations with the United States, which has identified the Online Streaming Act as a trade irritant.

“What was said at the event, Ms. Thomas, from producers of shows like Heated Rivalry, that was discussed at length, was that in the trade negotiations, these people that are defending Canadian content had the prime minister’s back,” Miller said.

Under the Online Streaming Act, the federal broadcast regulator has ordered large foreign platforms to make a five per cent contribution toward Canadian content. The creators of the hit show Heated Rivalry defended the legislation during an appearance at the conference.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Media Producers Association said in an earlier statement the group is a “non-partisan organization representing more than 600 small and medium-sized companies across Canada that produce movies and TV shows — not news.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press