CBC CEO Catherine Tait told the Commons Heritage committee this week that cutting the CBC "would be devastating" for Canada.According to the Crown broadcaster, the current market share for CBC-TV is at 4.4% and declining.“It would be devastating,” testified Tait. The network’s largest single source of revenue is a $1.3 billion annual parliamentary grant. “We are the most outstanding, high-quality journalistic organization,” she added.“The Conservatives’ leader has promised to defund the CBC. What impact would that have?” asked Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, BC). “We are the only national news media organization in the country with the mandate to serve all Canadians,” replied Tait. “Therefore, should we be defunded, we would no longer be reaching all those Canadians.”“What impact would that have, in particular, on rural communities?” asked Noormohamed. “It would be devastating,” replied Tait. The CBC was a “precious asset,” she said. “This independent journalism is the pillar of our democracy.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, CBC Television's last Annual Report to Parliament said its market share was 4.4%, projected to fall to 4.1% in 2024. “CBC Television fell below target as both CBC audiences and total available audiences across the segment declined,” said the Annual Report.Since 2020, the Conservative Party has been campaigning on reducing or eliminating subsidies for English-language CBC Television.“CBC English TV is no longer needed,” then-leader Erin O’Toole wrote in a 2020 statement Modernizing the CBC. “Taxpayer dollars should not pay for things like a Canadian version of Family Feud nor should they fund CBC News Network, a channel no different from its private sector competitors.”“Our public broadcaster is stuck in the past,” O’Toole said in a February 14, 2020 video. “We will end funding for CBC Digital and we will cut the CBC English TV budget by 50%. Our plan will phase out TV advertising with a goal to fully privatize CBC English TV by the end of our first mandate.”In the last Annual Report, CEO Tait expressed concerns that Canada was becoming increasingly unsafe for CBC employees.“They face rising threats to their safety both online and in the field,” wrote Tait.Tait repeated the claim, testifying the network had to “manage post-traumatic stress syndrome that many of our journalists are suffering from.” No examples of trauma were provided by Tait.“We have had to remove logos from our trucks,” said Tait. “We have had to protect our journalists during demonstrations. We have had to actually begin domestic war zone training.”“We always have had training for journalists who go into war zones or conflict areas, but now we do it domestically,” said Tait. “It is an extremely serious issue.”
CBC CEO Catherine Tait told the Commons Heritage committee this week that cutting the CBC "would be devastating" for Canada.According to the Crown broadcaster, the current market share for CBC-TV is at 4.4% and declining.“It would be devastating,” testified Tait. The network’s largest single source of revenue is a $1.3 billion annual parliamentary grant. “We are the most outstanding, high-quality journalistic organization,” she added.“The Conservatives’ leader has promised to defund the CBC. What impact would that have?” asked Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, BC). “We are the only national news media organization in the country with the mandate to serve all Canadians,” replied Tait. “Therefore, should we be defunded, we would no longer be reaching all those Canadians.”“What impact would that have, in particular, on rural communities?” asked Noormohamed. “It would be devastating,” replied Tait. The CBC was a “precious asset,” she said. “This independent journalism is the pillar of our democracy.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, CBC Television's last Annual Report to Parliament said its market share was 4.4%, projected to fall to 4.1% in 2024. “CBC Television fell below target as both CBC audiences and total available audiences across the segment declined,” said the Annual Report.Since 2020, the Conservative Party has been campaigning on reducing or eliminating subsidies for English-language CBC Television.“CBC English TV is no longer needed,” then-leader Erin O’Toole wrote in a 2020 statement Modernizing the CBC. “Taxpayer dollars should not pay for things like a Canadian version of Family Feud nor should they fund CBC News Network, a channel no different from its private sector competitors.”“Our public broadcaster is stuck in the past,” O’Toole said in a February 14, 2020 video. “We will end funding for CBC Digital and we will cut the CBC English TV budget by 50%. Our plan will phase out TV advertising with a goal to fully privatize CBC English TV by the end of our first mandate.”In the last Annual Report, CEO Tait expressed concerns that Canada was becoming increasingly unsafe for CBC employees.“They face rising threats to their safety both online and in the field,” wrote Tait.Tait repeated the claim, testifying the network had to “manage post-traumatic stress syndrome that many of our journalists are suffering from.” No examples of trauma were provided by Tait.“We have had to remove logos from our trucks,” said Tait. “We have had to protect our journalists during demonstrations. We have had to actually begin domestic war zone training.”“We always have had training for journalists who go into war zones or conflict areas, but now we do it domestically,” said Tait. “It is an extremely serious issue.”
