Published by Senator Claudette Tardif on 02 April 2009
The Conservative Government’s refusal to help CBC/Radio-Canada with a bridge loan has resulted in 800 job losses as the public broadcaster has to make drastic cuts of $171 million for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
It is most regretful that so many talented journalists, technicians, and administrative staff are losing their jobs in the CBC cuts. The cuts of services in French will total $12 million resulting in 336 francophone job losses. This does away with the traditional one-third to two-thirds sharing arrangement between French and English networks, respectively, for federal funding. French network cuts represent almost half of the total number of jobs that were lost.
I find the plight of French-speaking communities outside Quebec most worrisome. The ‘CBC squeeze’ will have a disastrous effect on these minority communities across Canada. The cuts will result in limited national news in French, fewer regional and local programs and hours of programming. By refusing to help Radio-Canada, the government is cutting a service essential to the character of these communities and one of the sole sources of francophone news.
This is particularly disturbing when one considers that, in some instances, francophone communities are losing the only program they had in their language. "There are few regional programs that discuss the realities of our communities," says Lise Routhier-Boudreau, President of the Federation of Francophone and Acadian communities (FCFA).
The Commissioner of Official Languages has also commented recently on the essential nature of CBC/Radio-Canada for francophone communities in the West.
CBC/Radio-Canada is a thread that keeps all Canadians together and brings Canadian news and entertainment to families. This government seems to forget that there are many rural and isolated communities that depend on the CBC not just for jobs but also for information. The CBC cuts are only further separating our rural regions and our official language minorities from the rest of the country. Considering all the efforts put into Canada-communities partnerships, cultural development and Canadian broadcasting, this is a real step backwards.
Will this government ever consider investing in its national public broadcaster to ensure that all Canadians have access to its quality services?
Is this government using the pretext of tough economic times to implement its ideological agenda?