CBC privatization bill receives chilly response in House

A private members’ bill to privatize CBC/Radio-Canada was met with vigorous opposition Friday as members of Parliament stood in the House of Commons to defend the country’s public broadcaster. Bill C-308, introduced by Conservative backbencher — and party leadership candidate — Brad Trost in September, proposes incorporating the CBC, creating and selling shares in a public offering and putting the money the Crown corporation currently receives into general revenue. The only one to speak in favour of his bill, Trost stressed that the legislation “does not propose to do away with the CBC. It does not propose to dismantle, replace it, or otherwise tinker with it in other ways.” What the bill does, Trost said, is aim to privatize the CBC "thereby relieving taxpayers of the burden of subsidizing it, freeing it from the amateur influence of politicians and government bureaucrats and giving average Canadians the opportunity to freely choose whether or not to participate in its ownership by purchasing shares and exercising the rights and privileges that come with ownership.” He added: “The CBC is like an adult child that lives in the basement of their parent's home trying to discover themselves at their parent’s expense. Mom and dad love them, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s time for him or her to move out and make his own in the world.” In outlining the government’s opposition to the bill, Sean Casey, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage, noted that Trost hadn’t included any evaluation of the CBC’s value or market interest. He also keyed in on the fact that without government funding, the CBC would generate most of its revenue from advertising. “This means its total revenue could be heavily reduced. It is quite probable it would choose to reduce its offering to ensure profitability,” Casey said. “It’s also possible it would first choose to cut its regional services, which serve official language minority communities and indigenous communities among others. This would be a loss, not only for those communities, but also for the diversity of voices in the Canadian broadcasting system.” Among those standing in opposition to Trost’s bill were members of his own party, like Conservative MPs Arnold Viersen and Kevin Waugh, a 30-year veteran of BCE Inc.’s CTV network. Waugh said private broadcasters need the competition the CBC offers and even though eliminating its subsidy would save the government more than $1 billion annually, the question of what would be lost has to be examined. “Well, we would most certainly lose local broadcast news in many remote regions of this country plus minority language communities,” Waugh said. “Believe me, the private industry has no appetite — zero — to serve these regions in our country. I know because I’ve worked for them.” Trost’s bill isn’t likely to return for debate and vote in the near future, as it was placed at the bottom of the order paper at the end of an hour of debate. The bill was also flagged by the Speaker of the House on Feb. 7 as needing a “royal recommendation” — essentially, the endorsement of a cabinet minister — because it involves spending public money. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CBC privatization bill receives chilly response in House

News | February 17, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

CBC privatization bill receives chilly response in House

News | February 17, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Dasko seeks survey data from CBC in Senate

CBC committee needs more francophone minority participation, senator says

Housakos and Gold battle over CBC in Senate

Éric Forest defends CBC to colleagues in Senate debate

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us