Pierre Poilievre wants to be the new leader of the Conservative Party in Canada (among other things). The page straight out of the very blue notebook is the desire to defund the CBC.
Erin O'Toole, the previous permanent Conservative Party leader, wanted to defund the CBC through targeted, rather specific measures. Poilievre doesn't do well with nuance.
This tactic is getting so tired.
O'Toole sucked up to Quebec and would have left Radio-Canada out of the cuts. The Conservative and conservative target is CBC News. Major Canadian journalism — TV, newspapers, radio — are either right-centre or completely to the right, except for the CBC.
O'Toole and Poilievre were in Stephen Harper's cabinet. Harper did significant damage to funding for the CBC during his reign from 2006-2015. The right-wing press generally ignored what was happening.
We've seen and heard the capitulation to the Conservatives by CBC News from Vassy Kapelos on Power & Politics to Jayme Poisson on Front Burner to a general reluctance to confront Stephen Harper on scandals through his time in office.
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Imagine if left-leaning parties came out and said, "private TV networks should be required to fund more Canadian programming and no longer count newscasts as Canadian content" or "we will not allow American hedge funds to own a majority of Canadian newspaper companies."
They should do this. These thoughts aren't radical statements. Defunding the CBC is a radical statement every time a conservative politician plays this card.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes has a personal incentive to keep funding for the CBC. The Tuesday night news comedy show has shared thoughtful insights on why the CBC is important. Most Canadian journalists avoid that argument and CBC News would be reluctant to do that on its own behalf.
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$34/person in a year. That is what the CBC funding works out for the taxpayers. Services in English and French in radio and television as well as digital, some of that in Indigenous languages. CBC Music (aka Radio 2) offers amazing Canadian music in multiple genres via the CBC Listen app. The CBC gets no advertising revenue from running Hockey Night in Canada, including the Stanley Cup playoffs starting May 2.
Reform CBC is certainly plausible and should be encouraged. Make CBC stronger. The CBC needs more money to make some of those transitions. A 3-word policy: "defund the CBC" is the opposite of helpful.
You could argue that O'Toole and Poilievre are more honest than their previous boss about what they would do with the CBC. Their harsh anti-CBC rhetoric makes getting votes in Ontario and Quebec more difficult, decreasing their chances of forming a majority government.
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The Conservative Party leadership race will be decided on September 10. Poilievre has announced his candidacy along with Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber, Joseph Bourgault, Jean Charest, Patrick Brown, Scott Aitchison, Bobby Singh, Marc Dalton, Leona Alleslev, and Joel Etienne.
The candidates still have to meet the April 29 deadline to submit all endorsement signatures, full registration fee, and full compliance deposit. Those who meet the criteria will become a verified candidate and appear on the ballot.
Will all of these people come out as harshly against the CBC? Will they let Poilievre speak for all of them, even Charest?
Conservatives may not want to hear this but they have to pick between the following options: keep pushing the "defund the CBC" to generate enthusiasm for their hard-core supporters or agree to fund the CBC at a reasonable level and possibly get elected on a national basis down the road.
photo credit: pierrepoilievremp/Instagram; Charlie Angus/Facebook
videos credit: This Hour Has 22 Minutes/CBC
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