Efforts to defund the CBC have gained steam, according to a private email by its president and CEO earlier this year. Catherine Tait asked for volunteers in January to help Canadian Heritage develop a plan for the broadcaster.

“Sadly,” Tait wrote, “the ‘defund’ narrative has picked up momentum — especially as it relates to CBC television. I believe the industry must rally if we are to secure Canadian-owned production for the future.”

The National Post, who obtained the email through an Access to Information request, learned 2024 was a “big year” for the industry. A CBC spokesperson declined comment to the Post, saying “we won’t comment” on internal communications.

Tait first served as president and CEO of the state broadcaster in 2018, with the Crown corporation extending her mandate through the beginning of 2025. The broadcaster reportedly named Marie-Philippe Bouchard, a veteran Quebec television executive, as her replacement, sources tell Radio-Canada.

In the coming months, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge intends to also modernize the state broadcaster, which includes changes to its mandate. 

A committee of seven people, which includes former CBC employees, were hired to provide her with “non-partisan” advice on its “funding, governance and mandate.”

“As a government, we are working toward strengthening our independent public broadcaster,” Minister St-Onge said in a statement.

“Our plan for a better CBC contrasts sharply with the Conservatives’ proposal to defund and dismantle CBC/(Radio-Canada) that millions of Canadians count on,” she added.

MP Rachael Thomas, the Conservative heritage critic, accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “desperate to save his broken and failing propaganda machine.”

“His Liberal government is writing new laws and regulations to secure even more taxpayers dollars for the CBC and appoint yet another handpick CEO to continue running it as Justin Trudeau’s mouthpiece,” Thomas said.

According to Blacklock's Reporter, Tait wrote to Pierre Poilievre last September to dismiss a Conservative "fundraising ploy" to defund the state broadcaster. The Conservatives raised $8,306,535 during the first quarter of 2023, promising to "remove the gatekeepers" and "cut wasteful spending."

Tait urged Poilievre to consider the implications of his fundraiser. "There [is] a group of dissenters and detractors, and they have been given voice," she claimed. "They have a megaphone, and they're using it."

Poilievre returned fire, calling the Crown corporation a "mouthpiece for Justin Trudeau."

On April 13, Poilievre called the CBC "biased propaganda" that "negatively affects" all media. "We need a neutral and free media, not a propaganda arm for the Liberal Party," he added.

In a 2021 campaign document titled Canada's Recovery Plan, the Tories proposed "refocusing the [broadcaster's] services on a public interest model" to prevent competition with privately-owned media. Direct federal funding for all newsrooms "undermines press freedom and trust in [the] media," wrote the party.

"As head of the public broadcaster and as Leader of the Opposition, I think Canadians can rightly expect that the two of us have a responsibility to discuss the implications of your promise," Tait said at the time.

Tait expressed similar concerns in recent years as trust in Canadian journalists continues to deteriorate.

“This comes at an extremely important time for Canada’s public broadcaster and for me personally,” she wrote back in May. “We are facing very worrisome headwinds with mounting pressure to ‘defund’ the CBC — which is why I thought having all of my colleagues from around the world present in Ottawa would be so impactful.”

“The program we are developing will include greater exposure to decision-makers in Ottawa and hopefully will increase awareness of the value of public media.”

Poilievre has vowed to “defund” the state broadcaster, which received $1.4 billion in the last federal budget.

Tait recently told CBC News that calls to scrap the institution are concerning, as it's been a part of the country’s “cultural fabric” for almost 90 years.

Conservative MPs have routinely championed calls to sell off the broadcaster’s Toronto headquarters, as well as the Montreal offices for Radio-Canada, its French-language programming arm.

Donate to Rebel News

Unlike almost all of our mainstream media competitors, Rebel News doesn’t receive any government funding. We rely on our generous audience to help keep us reporting.

Optional email code

Canadian Dollars U.S. Dollars Australian Dollars British Pounds

Amount

$25

$50

$75

$100

$250

$500

$1,000

$2,500

Other

$

One-time

Monthly

DONATE