Éric Forest defends CBC to colleagues in Senate debate

Éric Forest of the Independent Senators Group took to the floor of the Red Chamber Tuesday to defend CBC/Radio-Canada. He was speaking to a motion introduced by Progressive Senator Andrew Cardozo. Forest began by acknowledging the mandate review announced earlier this month by Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge. A seven-member panel will look at the operations of the public broadcaster. “This re-examination comes at a time when the Conservative opposition is pledging to cut CBC funding and turn its Toronto headquarters into housing. To be honest, I don’t think the time is right for a major overhaul of our public broadcaster,” the Quebec senator said in French. “A pre-election climate is certainly not conducive to addressing the future of our public broadcaster, an institution that is so important to Canadian culture and democracy.” He suggested the review should be taking place in a less heated environment. He quoted a Parisian researcher who said people question why they fund public broadcasters whether things are going well or not. “This is exactly what our public broadcaster is going through, with some people asking, ‘Why should we fund Radio-Canada programs if they’re so popular?’ Still others are asking, ‘Why should we fund CBC programs when they’re not being watched?’,” Forest continued. “When we compare the funding of Canada’s public broadcaster with that of other countries, $33 per capita per year is not excessive, compared with $79 in France, $149 in Germany and $68 in Japan.” He cited the Yale Report into broadcasting and telecommunications which called for long term funding for the CBC. The 2020 study also recommended that the corporation stop accepting advertising on television, starting with news programming. The senator stated that a rigorous media is needed to engage citizens. Cutbacks, in both public and private broadcasting, threaten that ideal. “According to an American study, in places where citizens had greater access to local information, voter turnout was higher. Other research has shown that media-produced information promotes political and public engagement.” The public broadcaster is necessary to fight disinformation campaigns being waged throughout social media, he added. “Our public broadcaster offers equitable access to quality information and culture to all Canadians, no matter where they live and regardless of their socio-economic situation,” he concluded. “This is especially important in a vast and diverse country like Canada, where private media can encounter problems reaching every community equitably and from the same starting point.” He ended by thanking Cardozo for raising the issue in the Senate. – Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

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Éric Forest defends CBC to colleagues in Senate debate

Broadcast | May 29, 2024

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