I couldn't agree more:
A new ad campaign to “Free the CBC” from political interference will not air on the public broadcaster’s programs, say representatives from the non-profit media watchdog group that created the commercials.
“I’m a little surprised and disappointed that they wouldn’t take our money for the ads,” said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison. “It proves our point a little bit about the nature of the problem.”
I suppose it does. The amusing thing about the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is that they fail to grasp the logic of their position. If their true goal is to free the CBC from political influence, there is only one reliable way of doing so: Cut off all government funding. A private broadcaster is far less susceptible to government bullying. They get paid by a wide variety of advertisers and sponsors, instead of a primary source which is overtly political.
Complaining about the Tories attempting to influence the CBC is also incredibly rich. Even casual observers of the Mother Corp note it's anti-Conservative bias and fawning coverage of Justin Trudeau. If the Tories are trying to bully the CBC they're doing a horrible and belated job of it. Seven years in power and now they get around to demanding decent coverage?
Political interference at the CBC is nothing new. It's actually the broadcaster's raison d'etre. Canada had a strong and diversified private broadcasting system in 1936 when the CBC was established. There was no shortage of news or entertainment for Canadians to choose from. The problem, so far as a clique of statist nationalists were concerned, was that the news and entertainment being provided to Canadians was not sufficiently Canadian. By whose standards? By the standards of those very same lobbyists, bureaucrats and politicians.
The CBC began by telling Canada's stories to Canadians, but only those that meet the philosophical prejudices of the Aird Commission. It then continue to tell Canada's stories to Canadians by broadcasting the accepted consensus of the Laurentian elite. On a clear day they might see Hamilton from the roof of their offices in downtown Toronto. While the CBC developed a network of local stations, those in charge were drawn from a small collection of journalists and academics located in Central Canada. Most were graduates of U of T, Queen's or McGill. From day one they had a certain vision of Canada they were intent on stamping upon Canadians.
The central objection to commercial broadcasting was its lack of political influence. Private broadcasters were mostly interested in providing what people wanted to watch and listen to. They had little interest in bombarding Canadians with Liberal or CCF/NDP tinged propaganda. The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting do want political interference at the CBC, but only from people who agree with their politics. The CBC has always been a political project.
Way back in the 1960s the Pearson government pressured the CBC to cancel This Hour Has Seven Days after a series of embarrassing stories. In the late 1990s the Chretien government grew annoyed with Terry Milewski and his coverage of the APEC scandal. Mysteriously Terry Milewski soon found himself suspended. Bill C-60, what the Friends are so work up about, simply allows the government to sit in on collective bargaining negotiations. If the Tories wanted to influence content they could just follow the well trodden path of previous Liberal governments, a discrete word in a hallway or backroom.
The actual purpose of the legislation, which applies to other Crown corporations, is to prevent these agents of the government from accumulating overly generous pension and benefit obligations that might, in the not too distant future, require a federal government bail out. The Harper Tories already have means at their disposal to bully the CBC. That the Mother Corp retains its Leftist bias is proof that either the Conservatives have refused to pressure the broadcaster, or they are pretty inept at doing so.
If you want to Free the CBC, then let it survive in a free market. 76 years of corporate welfare is quite enough.
Amen
Posted by: Chris Lockhart | Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 12:12 PM