Trudeau and Poilievre fuelling the extremes of the CBC debate, and most Canadians would be better off if they stopped
Second, that purpose attracts a certain type of producer and journalist, one who shares that small-l liberal vision of Canada, one who also values the state’s support for journalism unfettered by commercial constraints. People who prefer to work in that environment than in the more cutthroat world of private broadcasting thus flock to CBC.
Poilievre’s Conservative party is at the extreme end of the anti-CBC continuum, because it is not only anti-big government, but anti-elite. And in Canadian broadcasting, there is nothing more elite than the CBC. Headquartered in Toronto, it takes a highly urban view of Canada: inclusive, progressive, and woke. If it were a private broadcaster, no one would care, but it is doing this with public money.
As a result, instead of uniting us, the CBC ends up dividing us — the exact opposite of its mandate. This situation is catnip to populists, a great way to animate the base and get fundraising dollars flowing in the door.The attack on the CBC also forms part of a larger anti-media narrative. Like Republicans in the United States, Canadian Conservatives consider “the media party” just as much of an adversary as their actual political opponents.
So where does this leave us? As usual, with politicians fueling the extremes. Both Trudeau and Poilievre have clicks, donations and voters to gain by taking polarized positions: Trudeau as the defender of unifying Canadian institutions, Poilievre as the anti-elite champion of the beleaguered taxpayer. Their respective voter bases may appreciate this, but the rest of the country could do without the tempest in a tweet-pot.
Whether Twitter flags CBC as “government funded” is not the issue. The issue is whether we need a publicly funded broadcaster like CBC in our multichannel universe, and if we do, what form it should take. Institutions evolve, and media is no exception. Maybe someday we’ll have a grown-up conversation about this. Until then, it will be limited to 280 character sound bites.
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