Much of Quebec’s political class complains of injustice in the face of cuts announced at Radio-Canada, which appear to be as severe as those at its English-language counterpart, the CBC.
• Also read: 800 jobs cut at CBC/Radio-Canada: “Dark day for Radio-Canada”
Crown corporation chief Catherine Tait announced Monday the elimination of 250 jobs at Radio-Canada and the same number at the CBC.
“This is very bad news for Radio-Canada,” Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe wrote on .”
Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien also criticized the decision to limit both services equally, while Radio-Canada “has three times as many viewers” and “French is in decline.”
Liberal MP and former Liberal culture minister Christine St-Pierre lamented the scale of cuts to the French service while “the budgets are not the same” as at the CBC.
Quebec party leader Paul St-Pierre-Plamondon called the decision “inexplicable” at a time when “French is in decline and regional information in Quebec is in crisis.”
“The decline in advertising revenue is mainly due to the English-language network,” he claimed.
During question time, Bloc MP Alain Therrien criticized Culture Minister Pascale St-Onge for extending Catherine Tait’s mandate to make these cuts.
“This means that our culture, our sense of belonging to our region and the quality of our information will pay the price,” he said.
“Our government has always been there to support CBC/Radio-Canada’s journalists and all media outlets in the country,” Ms. St-Onge responded.
The Trudeau government last month announced a significant increase in aid to the media, totaling $129 million over five years.
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