OTTAWA — With Donald Trump making “territorial claims,” the new head of CBC says defunding the public broadcaster could erode a pillar of Canada’s cultural identity.
Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CEO of CBC-Radio-Canada, is calling for a “national conversation” on the Conservatives’ promise to defund and is launching a tour to get it started.
She says it’s important for Canadians to be equipped with facts about the likely impacts of stripping away CBC’s funding for English-language services.
She says Canadians are not engaging with the issue at the level they should be as the country heads into a federal election later this year.
Bouchard will appear at a production industry conference later this week and then tour Western Canada, engaging with business and civic leaders, industry, CBC audiences and employees.
She says the Conservative pledge to cut a billion dollars from CBC’s government funding, keeping only francophone news, wouldn’t work because there wouldn’t be enough money left to maintain a viable French-language service.