Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said on Thursday that the cabinet is willing to support the CBC in protecting itself from the Conservative Party. “It is something I hold very dear,” St-Onge testified at the Commons Heritage committee.“Our national broadcaster is affected by a current crisis. Their revenues are affected. Their income is affected. This is without even including the impact of continuous attacks by the Conservative Party.”“They are defending themselves from that and I am happy to help them do that,” said St-Onge. “I am proud to do so.”“We need a conversation about the future of CBC because, given the media crisis, the entire situation has changed,” said St-Onge. “We need to ensure our national broadcaster continues to play its important role for us.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the minister did not specify what actions she would take to support the network. The biggest source of income for the CBC is a $1.3 billion yearly grant from parliament.“Why is the CBC important?” asked Liberal MP Anna Gainey (Notre-Dame-de-Grace, QC). “I have passionately defended the CBC because all democratic countries ensure they have strong institutions to provide journalism across the land,” replied St-Onge.“Can you tell us maybe one item you’re excited about?” asked Liberal MP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East, ON). “I am really looking forward to talking more to Canadians about the future of the CBC,” replied St-Onge.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has proposed $1 billion in cuts to CBC-TV English language services. “The CBC frankly is a biased propaganda arm of the Liberal Party,” he told reporters last April 13.“We need a neutral and free media, not a propaganda arm for the Liberal Party,” said Poilievre. “When I am prime minister, we are going to have a free press where everyday Canadians decide what they think rather than having Liberal propaganda jammed down their throats.”Catherine Tait, CEO of the television network, called opposition to CBC subsidies a partisan fundraising ploy in a November 29, 2022, letter to MP Poilievre. “Your Party continues to run email blasts and Twitter and Facebook ads falsely accusing CBC journalists of bias and using the ‘defund’ promise to try and generate money for your Party,” wrote Tait.“These fundraising efforts do not acknowledge the scope or value that CBC/Radio-Canada actually delivers to Canadians or the implications to this country and its economy were it to be ‘defunded,’” wrote Tait. “As head of the public broadcaster and as leader of the opposition, I think Canadians can rightly expect that the two of us have a responsibility to discuss the implications of your promise.”The CBC made the letter public using Access to Information. In their 2021 election campaign document Canada’s Recovery Plan, the Conservative Party suggested that CBC English TV should get funding from charities and viewer donations. They proposed a “public interest model like that of PBS in the United States.”
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said on Thursday that the cabinet is willing to support the CBC in protecting itself from the Conservative Party. “It is something I hold very dear,” St-Onge testified at the Commons Heritage committee.“Our national broadcaster is affected by a current crisis. Their revenues are affected. Their income is affected. This is without even including the impact of continuous attacks by the Conservative Party.”“They are defending themselves from that and I am happy to help them do that,” said St-Onge. “I am proud to do so.”“We need a conversation about the future of CBC because, given the media crisis, the entire situation has changed,” said St-Onge. “We need to ensure our national broadcaster continues to play its important role for us.”According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the minister did not specify what actions she would take to support the network. The biggest source of income for the CBC is a $1.3 billion yearly grant from parliament.“Why is the CBC important?” asked Liberal MP Anna Gainey (Notre-Dame-de-Grace, QC). “I have passionately defended the CBC because all democratic countries ensure they have strong institutions to provide journalism across the land,” replied St-Onge.“Can you tell us maybe one item you’re excited about?” asked Liberal MP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East, ON). “I am really looking forward to talking more to Canadians about the future of the CBC,” replied St-Onge.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has proposed $1 billion in cuts to CBC-TV English language services. “The CBC frankly is a biased propaganda arm of the Liberal Party,” he told reporters last April 13.“We need a neutral and free media, not a propaganda arm for the Liberal Party,” said Poilievre. “When I am prime minister, we are going to have a free press where everyday Canadians decide what they think rather than having Liberal propaganda jammed down their throats.”Catherine Tait, CEO of the television network, called opposition to CBC subsidies a partisan fundraising ploy in a November 29, 2022, letter to MP Poilievre. “Your Party continues to run email blasts and Twitter and Facebook ads falsely accusing CBC journalists of bias and using the ‘defund’ promise to try and generate money for your Party,” wrote Tait.“These fundraising efforts do not acknowledge the scope or value that CBC/Radio-Canada actually delivers to Canadians or the implications to this country and its economy were it to be ‘defunded,’” wrote Tait. “As head of the public broadcaster and as leader of the opposition, I think Canadians can rightly expect that the two of us have a responsibility to discuss the implications of your promise.”The CBC made the letter public using Access to Information. In their 2021 election campaign document Canada’s Recovery Plan, the Conservative Party suggested that CBC English TV should get funding from charities and viewer donations. They proposed a “public interest model like that of PBS in the United States.”
