Statement made on 12 February 2009 by Senator Joan Fraser
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, I will try the Leader of the Government in the Senate on a subject she may find a little easier to navigate.
Honourable senators, on Monday of this week, in a committee of the other place, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore was asked whether he would consider opening up CBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 for commercial advertising. His response, in part, was that the CBC has a lot of pressure for commercial advertising.
We're working with Hubert Lacroix and people at the CBC in order to really get a full sense of the scale of the problems that they have. Commercial advertising is an option that has been talked about for some time. I would frankly consider anything so long as the end result is to have a strong national broadcaster.
Given that virtually everyone who has ever examined the CBC, including the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, has concluded that CBC Radio's identity, mandate and nature were transformed for the better when they dropped commercial advertising, can the Leader of the Government in the Senate tell me what that rather incomplete statement from the Canadian Heritage Minister should lead us to expect by way of public policy toward CBC Radio?
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