Tory contender Bernier wants to overhaul CBC
MEDIA: Promises to slash public broadcaster’s funding
OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier is promising to overhaul CBC/ Radio-Canada — an institution he says “seems frozen in time” — by cutting hundreds of millions in funding, streamlining its mandate and getting it out of the advertising market.
Bernier says CBC/Radio-Canada “should stop doing three-quarters of what it still does” that private broadcasters are already doing, including running game shows and cooking programs, sports programming, music streaming and a website devoted to opinion journalism.
It also needs to stop “unfairly” competing with struggling private media in a shrinking advertising market, he says.
With a media landscape that now includes hundreds of channels and millions of sources of information and culture, “CBC/Radio-Canada seems frozen in time,” he said.
“It tries to occupy every niche, even though it doesn’t have and will never have the means to do so, with the result being lower-quality programming,” Bernier told reporters. “With my proposal, CBC/ Radio-Canada will stop competing unfairly with private media, and will be more respectful of the taxpayers that help fund it. It will also become a more relevant public institution, helping to reinforce our culture and our national identity.”
Bernier said CBC/Radio-Canada, in an attempt to stay relevant, reinterprets its mandate every few years, moving from one crisis to another.
If elected Conservative leader and prime minister, Bernier is promising to refocus CBC’s mandate on more programming that contributes to Canadian consciousness and identity, reflects all of Canada’s regions, and the needs of various language communities and the multicultural nature of Canada. To do so, he would make changes to the Broadcasting Act.
CBC/Radio-Canada should offer more quality public affairs programs that are not all based in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, he said.
He also promised to ensure CBC/ Radio-Canada gets out of the advertising market. To replace lost advertising revenue — which amounted to roughly $250 million last year — the CBC would have to rely on sponsorships from corporations and foundations, as well as donations from viewers and listeners, similar to PBS in the U.S.
Bernier is promising to cut CBC’s taxpayer funding, including rescinding the additional $150 million announced by the Liberal government. As well, he is committing to reviewing overall funding and lowering the public subsidy below last year’s $1 billion, although he didn’t specify a final figure.
His announcement came two days after CBC/Radio-Canada president Hubert Lacroix sent a letter to the House of Commons heritage committee, which has been examining the state of Canada’s news industry.
“Over the past several months, private media owners have been using their own newspapers and digital platforms, and your Parliamentary Committee, to argue for a weaker public broadcaster. This is unfortunate,” Lacroix wrote.
“The challenges facing media in Canada are many but they are not being caused by the public broadcaster,” he added. “As we have said before; limiting what public broadcasting does will only mean fewer services for Canadians. It won’t help private companies become more profitable. It won’t increase news coverage or the diversity of views, especially in smaller communities.”