CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait acknowledged that the state broadcaster is poised to have its funding cut in the near future as “the defund narrative has picked up momentum,” according to an internal email she sent out earlier this year.
Tait’s email was sent out in January requesting that two staff members volunteer for a committee being organized by the heritage minister to help create a government plan for CBC/Radio-Canada.
The email was later obtained by the National Post through an access-to-information request, however, its two recipients’ names were redacted. Tait said their participation was “critical to the issues on the table.”
“Sadly, the ‘defund’ narrative has picked up momentum — especially as it relates to CBC television. I believe the industry must rally if we are to secure Canadian-owned production for the future,” Tait wrote.
The email went on to say that 2025 would be a “big year” for the industry.
True North contacted CBC to further expand on Tait’s email, however, a spokesperson responded by saying “we won’t comment on private correspondence.”
Tait’s contract as CBC’s president and CEO is slated to end in January, with the government expected to announce her replacement this fall.
Additionally, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said she hopes to release the government’s plan to modernize the public broadcaster this fall, including changes to its mandate.
The taxpayer-funded broadcaster mandate has not been updated since 1991.
While St-Onge will be taking parental leave next month, she previously organized a committee to help guide the government’s plan for the future of CBC/Radio-Canada.
The committee consists of seven individuals with media experience who will provide her with “non-partisan” advice on “funding, governance and mandate.”
This isn’t the first time that Tait has expressed concern for the future of the Crown corporation, sending out a similar email in May.
“This comes at an extremely important time for Canada’s public broadcaster and for me personally,” wrote Tait. “We are facing very worrisome headwinds with mounting pressure to ‘defund’ the CBC— which is why I thought having all of my colleagues from around the world present in Ottawa would be so impactful.”
“The program we are developing will include greater exposure to decision-makers in Ottawa and hopefully will increase awareness of the value of public media,” it continued.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has long since pledged to defund the CBC if elected, which received $1.4 billion in the Liberals’ latest budget and an additional $42 million from the Trudeau government in April.
However, Poilievre promised to keep aspects of Radio-Canada, the broadcaster’s francophone side.
Additionally, the Opposition Leader has vowed to sell off CBC’s headquarters in Toronto and the Montreal headquarters of Radio-Canada.
While Tait has said she’s confident the organization will last through the next election cycle, she warned against calls for it to be scrapped outright, calling it an institution of Canada’s “cultural fabric” for nearly 90 years.
St-Onge is responsible for updating the broadcaster’s mandate before heading to the polls, saying in a recent statement, “as a government, we are working toward strengthening our independent public broadcaster.”
“Our plan for a better CBC contrasts sharply with the Conservatives’ proposal to defund and dismantle CBC/(Radio-Canada) that millions of Canadians count on,” it continued.
However, Canadian heritage critic and Conservative MP Rachel Thomas accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “desperate to save his broken and failing propaganda machine.”
“His Liberal government is writing new laws and regulations to secure even more taxpayers dollars for the CBC and appoint yet another handpick CEO to continue running it as Justin Trudeau’s mouthpiece,” wrote Thomas in a statement.
