Advertisement 1
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
The Liberal leader says Canada can be strong, but only by bolstering the public broadcaster's bloated budget
Author of the article:
By Kelly McParland
Published Apr 15, 2025
Last updated 4hours ago
5 minute read
Join the conversation
Article content
The 2025 federal election already has one big winner. Congratulations, CBC!
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
- Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.
- Unlimited online access to National Post.
- National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
- Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
- Support local journalism.
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
- Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.
- Unlimited online access to National Post.
- National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
- Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
- Support local journalism.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
- Access articles from across Canada with one account.
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
- Enjoy additional articles per month.
- Get email updates from your favourite authors.
THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
- Access articles from across Canada with one account
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments
- Enjoy additional articles per month
- Get email updates from your favourite authors
Sign In or Create an Account
or
View more offers
Article content
Article content
Barring a reversal of fortune, Liberal Leader Mark Carney saved the bacon of Canada’s natural broadcasting corporation when he announced that, should he remain prime minister after April 28, his government would not only keep the Crown corporation alive, it would raise its allowance until it reaches levels similar to those in Britain, Germany and France.
Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Why Canada should match Europeans in broadcast subsidies but not defence spending or other random areas of expenditure was left unexplained.
Article content
Platformed
This newsletter tackles hot topics with boldness, verve and wit. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.
Article content
For the broadcaster’s 7,500 employees, it was a near-run thing. Before Justin Trudeau stepped aside, with odds favouring Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre emerging as prime minister, their future looked bleak.
Article content
Poilievre was set on “defunding” the English wing of the operation, sending hordes of journalists, editors and executives out the door. Once they’d been evicted from their cushy headquarters, Conservatives sniggered, the building would be turned into housing for more deserving inhabitants.
Article content
Not anymore. Not, at least, if Carney continues to hold his lead and keeps the Liberals in power for a fourth consecutive mandate. In that case, the corporation will get an extra $150 million a year, on top of the $1.4 billion already sent its way from Ottawa.
Article content
And this would just be the beginning of Carney’s plan to bring its funding in line with other public broadcasters. While no cap on the extra funding is identified in the Liberal announcement, a raise of $1 billion or so a year over time is not out of the question.
Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Carney couched the plan in the usual manner of CBC defenders. “In this time of crisis,” he declared, “protecting our identity is a critical part of keeping Canada strong.”
Article content
Stories You May Like
- Jesse Kline: We spent $1.4B on the CBC and all we got was lousy anti-Israel bias
- NP View: The CBC exploits its unfair advantage
Advertisement embed-more-topic
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
While it’s hard to argue with that, it’s also disconcerting that, 158 years after Canada became an independent country, with all the history and achievements those decades contain, it’s still considered reasonable for a federal leader to suggest Canadians wouldn’t be capable of protecting our identity on our own, without having the CBC do it for us. If $1.4 billion a year isn’t enough to keep us protected, is an extra $150 million going to do the trick?
Article content
In any case, for English-speaking employees of the corporation — Poilievre was always going to spare the French wing for fear of losing crucial Quebec votes — the news must have come like a last-minute call from the warden, announcing a reprieve just as the prisoner was being marched off to the electric chair.
Article content
In addition to the prospect of more staff, more bureaus and a continuation of year-end bonuses, Carney said the money supply would henceforth enjoy statutory protection, requiring parliamentary approval for changes rather than leaving it to “ideologues” — by which he meant any party but the Liberals.
Advertisement 1
This advertisement has not loaded yet.
Trending
- Federal ElectionAfter a miracle byelection win, the Bloc is ready to lose in Montreal
- NP CommentKelly McParland: Carney thinks Canada is too weak to survive without the CBC
- Federal ElectionCarney says pipelines 'not necessarily' among major projects to prioritize
- CanadaCanadians travelling to U.S. hits lowest rate since COVID amid Trump trade war: new data
- NP CommentGeoff Russ: Canada has a chance to dominate the Pacific on LNG. Let's take it
Advertisement 2
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
It’s worth noting that on the campaign trail, Carney hasn’t shown himself to be a particular admirer of the corporation’s methods. He gets just as testy when being challenged by CBC reporters as he does with those from any other news outlet. It was the CBC’s Rosemary Barton who he advised to “look inside yourself” when she dared question his refusal to reveal more details about the assets he’d stowed away in a blind trust.
Article content
But polls show Canadians largely support the corporation and don’t want it to die, even if most of them rarely watch it and a significant portion agree with charges that it’s biased, top-heavy, Toronto-centric, too woke and represents a very real danger to the survival of private-sector competitors. From a purely political viewpoint, it made sense to retain Ottawa’s attachment to the network, whatever its flaws.
Article content
Where it doesn’t make sense is in its implications for its competitors, who don’t enjoy the benefit of an indulgent government and are trying to stay alive without being hooked up to the federal life-support system.
Article content
CTV, Global, Rogers and Quebec’s TVA have all slashed jobs and news coverage due to the loss of advertising revenue. What’s happening to television is what already happened to the print industry, which finds itself sadly diminished and increasingly beholden to government subsidies after having its income sources sucked up by monumentally bigger and richer U.S.-based tech giants.
Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
By pouring more money into the CBC, Carney will further protect it from the challenges facing everyone else. It can compete for ads, launch new services and lure away viewers, all in the knowledge that Ottawa is covering much of the bill.
Article content
CBC television already struggles for an audience in much of the country, but why bother changing strategies when the money will flow in anyway, and in ever-increasing amounts? Carney’s promise ensures the corporation is relieved of concern about its future, while increasing the uncertainties facing private broadcasters.
Article content
To justify its intentions, the Liberal plan includes some caveats, among them the expectation that the Crown corporation will strengthen “local news with more local bureaus and reporters.”
Article content
Smaller regional operations could thus find that they, too, face new competition from a government-financed rival. It’s like the local shoe store owner got to work one day to find Ottawa opening a discount operation next door selling cut-rate Nikes on the government dime.
Article content
It’s odd that a leader who stakes his claim to office on his status as a seasoned executive with real world experience in the private sector would be vowing to further coddle a government-backed broadcaster against rivals that have to fend for themselves to make a buck.
Article content
Story continues below
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Carney’s major pitch to voters is that he has better management skills than the crew that’s been running the joint for the past nine years. “I know how the world works,” he likes to say. Everyone knows business guys are better at running things than government guys. More efficient, more effective, with less waste and a closer eye on the bottom line. Except, it seems, when the product is appearing online, or on TV or radio.
Article content
Shouldn’t a new, more secure and self-reliant Canada be promoting a strong, independent, self-supporting and competitive broadcast industry to keep it informed, rather than a two tier-system divided between a private sector operating by one set of rules and a public broadcaster safe in a different, more protected world?
Article content
It’s the opposite of the Canada Carney claims he can deliver — a bold, confident country but with the same old protected public broadcaster. If tariffs are bad because they stifle competition and innovation, how does the equivalent bring anything better to what we see on the tube?
Article content
National Post
Article content
Article content
Article content
This advertisement has not loaded yet.
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Create an AccountSign in
Join the Conversation
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.
