Senior Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi in a pre-election report to constituents acknowledged the government-funded state broadcaster is “politically inconvenient” for the Conservative party.
Naqvi depicted the CBC’s $1.4 billion annual subsidy as a campaign issue, per Blacklock's Reporter.
“This isn’t about saving money,” wrote Naqvi, parliamentary secretary for health.
“It’s about silencing a public broadcaster Mr. Poilievre sees as politically inconvenient.”
Naqvi in a constituency weekly Glebe Report wrote that the CBC was an “essential” Crown corporation that “helped shape me as a Canadian.” The article mentioned Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre five times.
“Pierre Poilievre has vowed to defund the CBC, an ideological move that would undermine independent journalism, media diversity and national identity,” complained Naqvi in his commentary, entitled Defending The CBC: Why It Is Important For Canada.
The network is “holding the powerful accountable,” he said.
“Defunding it would leave Canadians more vulnerable to misinformation and foreign media influence. Beyond news, the CBC tells Canadian stories. Without it, our media landscape would be dominated by American content.”
“It is a necessity. That’s why I will stand up to defend it.”
Naqvi claimed “the CBC remains Canada’s most trusted news source.” He did not identify any source for the claim. Naqvi did not respond to questions.
“Defunding the CBC would be disastrous for Canadian democracy,” wrote Naqvi.
Reducing its annual parliamentary grant “would leave Canadians, many new to our country, with fewer independent news sources,” he said.
The network last year cut 346 jobs while paying $14.9 million in executive bonuses. CBC executives in Access To Information emails complained of “very disappointing and frustrating” coverage of network management by other Canadian media.
Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has proposed cuts to CBC-TV English language services. “The CBC frankly is a biased propaganda arm of the Liberal Party,” he told reporters in 2023.
“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, then-CEO of the network, in a 2022 letter to Poilievre dismissed criticism of CBC funding as partisan.
“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 actually delivers to Canadians or the implications to this country and its economy were it to be ‘defunded.”
The Conservative Party in a 2021 election campaign document Canada’s Recovery Plan proposed CBC English TV turn to charities and viewer donations for funding on a “public interest model like that of PBS in the United States.”
