“END THE MADNESS. Recall the committee. Defund the CBC.” Credit where it’s due to Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives for writing for radio, as I was taught at a CBC skills course many years ago: short and sharp, three beats, implied subject-verb-object.
The Tories are mad for this gimmick: axe the tax, build the homes, bring it home, fix the budget, stop the crime. It’s addictive and direct and Trumpy, apt to “win the vote” for them, and thus presenting, among other things, a direct existential threat to the CBC. It’s a threat that, starting this month, Catherine Tait, the outgoing president, CEO, and poster-person for bloated bureaucracy, gets to pass on to her successor, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, who hasn’t ticked off anyone significant—yet.
Can you imagine if they actually shut down CBC radio? Never mind how many people the the polls say are “opposed” to the idea. The real question is how many old people with a radio, who still tune in every day, even those who never think much about politics, would be instantly radicalized. We do not show up in measures of “digital reach.” Try it and the revolution could start sooner than you expect. It’s hard to believe that even Poilievre could be that politically suicidal.
I’m not even old and I listen to CBC radio daily.
It’s legitimately the best source of news around.
It doesn’t drone on like a 24 hour news cycle, the updates are time boxed so you get the most important facts first, and there are local stations across the country.
One way it could happen is the CPC limits CBC resources every year, forcing it to gradually degrade, & increasingly rely on advertisers. Then when the plug is finally pulled, it won’t seem so bad, because it’s so degraded anyway. A lot of damage could be done in the span of a few years.
I don’t want this to happen, but I think it’s what might happen.
Also, consider from the article:
Don’t forget about all those who live in remote regions (NWT, Nunavut, and provincial northern areas) whose only source of radio comes from CBC.
PP can go fuck himself.
Basically all of Ontario north of Barrie and west of Ottawa would lose a significant spectrum of radio broadcast.