It's been a long time since a heritage minister has gone this far when it comes to Radio-Canada.
In addition to being critical of Catherine Tait, Pascale St-Onge also refused to say whether she still has confidence in the suspended CEO. In a year-end interview, the new minister stated that “the role of CBC/Radio-Canada should be redefined before the next federal election.” Quite a risk from the member for Brome-Missisquoi! We have been discussing the mission of public broadcasting for ages without ever engaging with it.
“It is time,” the minister said, “to work with experts…” However, this is one of the “urgent” tasks that Ottawa gave to Janet Yale’s group, founded in June 2018, and is now five and a half years old (! ) and whose report was submitted on January 29, 2020 four years ago (!). With the general election due to take place no later than October 2025, Ms St-Onge only has 15 to 18 months left to achieve what her predecessors have failed to do for years.
To the minister's credit, she wants to protect the public broadcaster from the “chainsaw” of Pierre Poilievre if he becomes prime minister. She wants to secure funding and even increase it to keep her party's promise to eliminate advertising in news and public affairs programs.
THE NEW MANDATE
The minister has already drawn the boundaries of the new mandate. She wants the public broadcaster to “fill the gaps in regional information, build a strong online presence, invest in international reporting and support linguistic minority communities.” Finally, she wants it to “continue to highlight local artists and fund programs that wouldn’t see the light of day if it were up to the private sector.”
The minister ultimately believes that keeping Radio-Canada and abolishing the CBC (Poilievre has already announced he would convert its Toronto headquarters into housing) is “absolutely impracticable because the two entities are closely linked and rely on the “. I have to contradict the minister here. I know the public broadcaster like the back of my hand, having worked for both broadcasters since the late 1950s. These two “units” (like Ms St-Onge calls them) are light years apart. “Others.” It would even make sense to consider the merits of a formal divorce between the CBC and the SRC.
GOVERNANCE TO REVIEW
The minister did not discuss the management of the public broadcaster. It is anything but exemplary. The President and the CEO, as well as the 12 members of the Council, are appointed by the Governor General in Council (i.e. the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers) and are all irremovable for the duration of their mandate. The CEO, whose authority is paramount, has exorbitant power over the board and the president, which he can lead at his whim. The law guarantees public broadcasting complete independence from the government, but the government has control over the budget. Find the mistake!
If Pascale St-Onge succeeds in securing funding for the CBC/SRC, redefining its mandate and balancing its leadership until the next elections, we must erect an immovable and, above all, unscrewable monument to this new iron lady!