The president of CBC/Radio-Canada defended the public broadcaster and its journalistic independence before a House of Commons committee on Thursday.
Catherine Tait was invited to testify before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, where she was questioned by Conservative MPs about coverage of the Middle East conflict.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Tait made it clear that CBC/Radio-Canada must be accountable to all Canadians, not politicians.
She also recalled that her reporters enjoy journalistic independence from the management of the public broadcaster.
As Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promises to cut the budget for Radio-Canada’s English services while maintaining coverage of linguistic minorities, Liberal MPs on the committee asked Ms. Tait on Thursday what would happen if the budget was reduced by $1.4 Billions of dollars would be cut from the public broadcaster has been reduced.
The president of CBC/Radio-Canada said this funding cut would have a devastating impact on the public broadcaster’s ability to fulfill its mission, particularly its mission to serve rural Canadians.
She also said the loss of the public broadcaster would be damaging to Canadian democracy.