Feds should use upcoming budget to defend, not defund, the CBC

Pierre Poilievre says he wants to defund the CBC. We should believe him. In fact, we should be moving now to put in place a plan to resist him, to defend the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from those who, like the would-be Conservative prime minister, seek to defund it. That starts with taking him seriously. Poilievre raises funds by promising to blow up our national public broadcaster. He repeats this pledge flamboyantly at his large and cheering rallies. His stump speeches and YouTube videos are littered with unqualified commitments to hammer the CBC out of existence. There is, therefore, exactly zero reason to believe those who assure us that he won’t possibly go through with it, that he will soften his stance and eventually backtrack. Even a casual glance of Poilievre’s record demonstrates his distaste for retreat. Clearly, Poilievre represents an existential threat to the CBC. That’s the bad news. The worse news is that the CBC also faces an institutional threat. One that is even more persistent and troubling. Evidence of this institutional threat is first seen in the neglect displayed by the current Liberal government. Slowed by insufficient funding, the CBC has been made more vulnerable to those who would seek to hunt it down. Similarly, the need to renew and revitalize the CBC to keep pace with technological, audience, and national imperatives has been hampered by a failure to refresh its mandate and redefine its role in our national life. Marla Boltman is the executive director for FRIENDS. Photograph courtesy of FRIENDS This neglect, in turn, has assisted an even greater institutional threat at the political level. Defunding the CBC is not just a personal preoccupation of Poilievre’s. It has become a totem of the right wing. In fact, across western democracies, the right has elevated their attacks on independent, editorially rigorous journalism. Why? Because independent media—such as the CBC—ask uncomfortable questions. They hold our leaders to account. In a post-truth society, where technology permits leaders to communicate directly with people on a scale never before seen, it is even more important that we have media who can serve as an editorial check on those with power. It is vital to a healthy and informed democracy. The right-wing objection to the CBC operates within this wider context. Efforts to discredit the CBC fit alongside Poilievre’s aversion to the national press gallery and his habit of ducking interviews with objective journalists and focusing instead on so-called alternative media, who often eschew traditional standards of editorial objectivity and responsible practices. The CBC is far from perfect. But it is essential, and it plays an essential role in our democratic life. The CBC remains a national institution that gathers us as a national community, connecting us from place to place and providing a platform to voices who are uniquely Canadian, uniquely local, and uniquely ours. Voices that would not otherwise be heard. If the threat to the CBC was limited solely to Poilievre, the answer would be simple: vote him down. Unfortunately, the explicit existential challenge he represents is matched by a broader institutional threat, typified by governments that won’t properly fund the CBC and a new right-wing orthodoxy committed to ending it. In response, we need to fortify the CBC’s position. We must make it harder for those who would tear it down. We must match this institutional threat with institutional protections. The first line of defence is the Liberals making good on their promise to provide the CBC with better funding—sustainable and steadily rising funding over a 10-year term in Budget 2023. This would give the CBC the resources needed to fulfill its mandate and the certainty that arises from stable finances. We must bolster this funding with legislation to guard against a quiet, uncontested end to the CBC with the mere stroke of Prime Minister Poilievre’s pen or a reversal of budgetary priorities. Specifically, we propose An Act to Defend the CBC that could be enshrined into law. It would contain a legislated obligation to conduct a formal mandate review every seven years to guarantee our national broadcaster evolves in concert with changing times and shifting demands. More fundamentally, it would include a requirement that any attempt to eliminate or fundamentally alter the CBC could only proceed after a dedicated national consultation and a majority vote in both Houses of Parliament. Resistance to this approach will be profound. Governments hate to have their discretion limited. Bureaucracies loathe structured financing obligations. And today’s right-wing seethes at the notion of a credible, flourishing, and editorially independent CBC. In response to calls to defund the CBC, we must stand up. We must defend the CBC. Marla Boltman is the executive director for FRIENDS (formerly Friends of Canadian Broadcasting). The Hill Times

Feds should use upcoming budget to defend, not defund, the CBC

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Feds should use upcoming budget to defend, not defund, the CBC

Alongside sustainable funding, we need legislation to guard against a quiet, uncontested end to the CBC with the mere stroke of Prime Minister Poilievre’s pen or a reversal of budgetary priorities.

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