PM Harper takes communications strategy to new level
There are an estimated 1,500 communications staffers working in ministers’ offices and departments, including 87 in the PMO and PCO
By Laura Ryckewaert
November 21, 2011
(...)Soon after Mr. Harper won power, the Prime Minister’s staff started deciding which reporters could ask questions, skipping those they suspected weren’t in the government’s favour. Media access to the Prime Minister and his caucus, in general, has become minimal, with MPs and ministers kept on a short, silent leash. (...) Interestingly, Mr. Harper’s new ball game, which has changed both political and departmental communications, seems to contradict the government’s stance stated in multiple Throne Speeches and the government’s own communications policy, introduced in 2006.
Source:
The Hill Times

CBC News - current 
CTV Breaking News
CNN
CPAC Online
Canadian Press News Service (CP) 
AOL Canada News

Canadian Daily Digest
Topics mostly from the Canadian Press & comments received from the General Public.

Canada.Com offers current headlines

Internet Sources for Journalists and Broadcasters
- incl. current headlines from CBC 

MEGASOURCES - "Surfing for Information and Journalism Resources"
Version 2009 (January 2009) online here since 1994
By Dean Tudor (Emeritus Professor, School of Journalism, Ryerson University, Toronto)
===>800+ links

DigitalJournal.com
DigitalJournal.com is an alternative news network for people who want to read news, contribute to reporting, debate and discuss news and events from around the world. Made up of professional journalists, citizen journalists, bloggers, passionate writers and regular Joes and Janes, DigitalJournal.com covers news and issues of the day. Contributors in 140 countries around the world are known as "Digital Journalists" and they work 24-7 to offer news from multiple perspectives, while special attention is placed on quality and accuracy.
[About Us ]

Newspapers in Canada
Extensive list - by province and territory - of dailies, weeklies, underground papers, university papers, and more... 
- incl. Internet addresses, e-mail addresses, street addresses, fax and  phone numbers

Online Newspapers.com - incredible list from every country in the world - you can browse Canadian newspapers by province

SourcesSelect Online (5,000 contacts, 1,000 organizations, 12,000 subjects) 

JournalismNet Canada (Canadian newswires and newspapers)
Source:
Journalism.Net

The Economist

CanWest Global Communications Corp.

TV Ontario

CNW Group (formerly Canada Newswire)
CNW Group is the nation’s number one resource for time-critical news and information from more than 10,000 sources coast to coast and around the world. Public companies, associations, unions, not-for-profits, municipal, provincial and federal governments all rely on CNW Group’s unique multi-media communication services and networks to effectively send their messages to newsrooms, the financial community and the public

Médias francophones

Radio-Canada - page d'accueil
Les nouvelles de Radio-Canada
Les archives de Radio-Canada

cyberpresse.ca - La Presse - Le Soleil - Le Droit - La Tribune - Le Nouvelliste - La Voix de l'Est - Quotidien

Bourque Newswatch Canada - today's headlines + a humungous list of links to media sites

Embassy News (Canada) Online - International News, Opinions. Features, Culture and Lifestyle
"Embassy is an unbiased and authoritative newsweekly focused on international affairs from a distinctively Canadian point of view and on the diplomatic community in Ottawa. Embassy gives its influential and prestigious readers breaking and informed news, society and cultural coverage and policy briefings to help make their work in Canada better informed and more effective."

CBC Archives
[ Version française : Les archives de Radio-Canada ]
- incredible multimedia collection of historical sound and video clips, (the Politics and Economy section even includes the 1971 Trudeau "fuddle-duddle" incident!)
- on this site, you can find links to literally hundreds of of historically significant sound and video clips organized under the following headings: People - Conflict and War - Arts & Entertainment - Politics and Economy - Life and Society - Disasters and Tragedies - Science and Technology - Sports
Two samples:
Medicare and Social Welfare: Tommy Douglas and the NDP
The Birth of Medicare
For more information on these two excellent multimedia presentations, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Medicare Debate Links page.

Interim Report on the Canadian News Media:
Fourth Report of the Standing Senate Committee
on Transport and Communications
April 2004
The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications examines and reports on "the current state of Canadian media industries; emerging trends and developments in these industries; the media's role, rights, and responsibilities in Canadian society; and current and appropriate future policies relating thereto."
Source:
Recent Reports, 37th Parliament, 3rd Session (February 2, 2004 - May 23, 2004)
[ Canada's Parliamentary Internet ]

CitizenSHIFT
"We are an independent, socially active, and nationally representative web magazine, that gives activists, organizations, and socially conscious media producers a forum for watching, listening, reading, and interacting with the issues that Canadians are dealing with, that may not have representation in the mainstream media. Our mission is to give a place for the voices of those that are less heard, or ignored, who do not have the chance to represent themselves in the media. CitizenSHIFT is a valuable tool for organizations and individuals to have their issues talked about, and utilizing all the forums that multimedia interaction can offer.
Our content is dictated by the submissions that we receive, but there are often shared themes between groups and media makers. Currently we are showcasing different activist artists’ work and perspectives on poverty and homelessness in the different chapters of the web magazine. In the chapter, REEL COMMUNITY – the film and its filmmakers of “Hide and Go Homeless” are featured, telling their rigorous journey to get their film finished against all odds. In REBELS WITH A CAUSE – CitzenSHIFT features Craig Chivers, a photosensitive artist whose activism through photography is showcased, along with interviews with Craig."
Source:
National Film Board

Reporters without Borders
"Reporters Without Borders is an association officially recognised as serving the public interest. More than a third of the world’s people live in countries where there is no press freedom. Reporters Without Borders works constantly to restore their right to be informed. Forty-two media professionals lost their lives in 2003 for doing what they were paid to do — keeping us informed. Today, more than 130 journalists around the world are in prison simply for doing their job..."

Google Canada News
- incl. late-breaking news, search, etc. - great resource!!
TIP: Google News Alerts is a service I use and recommend --- you give them your e-mail address and some key words, and you receive a daily e-mail from Google with links to articles (usually 4-5) that match your keywords. I subscribed using "Canada, welfare". You can subscribe as many times as the number of topics you want to monitor in the media.
Try it - you'll like it!

Yahoo! Canada National News

Northern News Service (news about Northern Canada) 

Huffington Post Canada

Straight Goods - Canada's consumer and news watchdog
"Straight Goods is a watchdog working for Canadian consumers and citizens. The purpose of Straight Goods is to help you save money, protect your rights and untangle spin with investigative reports, features, forums, archives, and links to many others who share our values."
---------------------------
Straight Goods is a subscription-based online magazine with a decidedly left slant on current events and social issues. Current site content is free, but you must be a subscriber to access most of the older material. If you can afford the $30/yr. subscription fee ($10/yr. for low-income subscribers), this is an excellent resource with an enormous archive of information.

Straight Goods Useful URLs
Over 900 links to sites organized by category, e.g., Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, Environment, Gender issues, Health, Journalism resources, Labour issues, Media, Politics, Research and analysis, Social action, Unions and more...
Recommended resource!

Vive le Canada
The mission of Vive le Canada is to involve Canadians in grassroots efforts to protect and improve Canadian sovereignties and democracy in the era of corporate globalization and U.S. empire, especially using existing and emerging communications tools.

Indymedia
"Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth."

U.S. - International

Disinfopedia
"a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy (http://www.prwatch.org), the Disinfopedia was started in February 2003 and contributors are now working on 6211 articles.

IPS-Inter Press Service – the Global Gateway
"Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), the world's leading provider of information on global issues, is backed by a network of journalists in more than 100 countries. Its clients include more than 3,000 media organizations and tens of thousands of civil society groups, academics, and other users. IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations."

ABYZ News Links Links to more than 17,200 newspapers and other news sources from around the world.

NewspaperLinks.com - U.S., Canadian, International - thousands of links to newspapers!

Wall Street Journal
New York Times
U.S.News and World Report
USA TODAY
Drudge Report
The Smoking Gun

The Onion - when ya need a break from it all, go here...
Biting 'murcan satire.

Example:

More States Shifting
Welfare Control to McDonald's

The Hammer - Ditto - but Canajun...
Links to more Canajun satire sites, eh.

CBS News Disaster Links
Extensive collection - over 600 links to credible sources of information on every conceivable disaster, from anthrax to winter storms. Includes links to international disaster organizations, relief agencies, airplane disasters, severe weather - even space weather - and much more...