Statement made on 26 March 2009 by Senator Tommy Banks (retired)
Hon. Tommy Banks:
Honourable senators, I wish to assuage Senator Segal's concerns by assuring him that no one on this side would confuse questions of the principle of bilingual broadcasting with journalistic choice. I hope the two things are not related in anyone's mind.
The leader suggested that she is in favour, as many of us on this side are and as reflected in the report of the committee then chaired by Senator Fraser, of the CBC getting out of the business of competing with commercial broadcasters. Then the leader said that the CBC should get out of downtown Toronto.
In my view, the services that the CBC ought to provide are those that either cannot, or will not, or are not provided by private broadcasters. Those audiences are not defined by geographical means; they are defined by means of interest.
Would the leader agree that any government, regardless of its political stripe, ought to provide the CBC with the opportunity of getting out of commercial competition with the networks? I hope the leader would agree that any government should let the private networks do those things which demonstrably they can but could not always do, and provide the CBC with enough money to do what the Broadcasting Act requires it to do?
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