A habit we can no longer afford

Dear Editor:

Last year’s announcement of a $125 million budget cut and the loss of 800 jobs at the CBC seemed a step in the right direction.

But now the Trudeau Government has topped up their budget to $1.4 billion. With an election in the offing and their popularity tanking, it would have been foolish to risk losing the support of their free booster club.

The CBC has outlived whatever usefulness it once had. Historic arguments about the need for a government broadcaster to bring news and entertainment and spread Canadian culture to people in remote places are done. People have satellite TV and internet news; and they aren’t tuning in to the CBC. Viewer ratings, the acid test of viability for any broadcaster, are in the tank.

If it isn’t the CBC talking heads drilling viewers on selected social themes, then it’s carefully selected advocates plucking the same strings. There are valid views besides the CBC’s chosen narratives, but these are often ignored or under-reported.

The CBC’s leftist, Liberal bias is so obvious that even a 10-year old can see it. They can’t bite the hand that feeds them, but their enthusiasm and goaltending for the Liberals is over the top.

The CBC’s preferred social and political themes of climate, gender, race, social justice and indigenous issues mimic the Liberal agenda right down the line. When was the CBC anointed to run activist agendas instead of reporting the news?

There’s a difference between reporting the news and making it. And there is a difference between informing people and indoctrinating them. Most people can form an opinion without tutoring from the CBC.

Don’t eliminate the CBC; just remove its taxpayer funding and let it survive on its own merits. If it can’t survive in a competitive market; too bad.

The CBC paid $99 million in bonuses to its executives from 2015 to 2022. What did they do to merit this? Any other network that only attracted 4.4% of the primetime audience would have fired them instead.

The CBC is a habit, not a need. And it’s a habit that we can no longer afford.

John Thompson

Kaleden