
Defenders of public broadcasting are sketching out their response to ongoing calls by Pierre Poilievre to “recklessly” defund the CBC, after the Conservative leader has been doubling down on that position in a recent social media post and at campaign-style rallies.
In an email to the The Hill Times, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge (Brome-Missisquoi, Que.) said that Canada needs “a strong public broadcaster that connects and informs us coast to coast to coast.” She said the government is reviewing the public broadcaster’s financing, governance, and mission with the goal of modernizing it, adding this “contrasts sharply” with the Conservative proposal to “defund and dismantle” an organization that “millions of Canadians count on.”










The head of the CBC says that while the public broadcaster must prepare for “all possible outcomes,” it doesn’t have a specific plan in the works for the possibility of a future Conservative government cancelling all or part of the Crown corporation’s public subsidy.
Seven people have been chosen to advise Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge as she examines the role of the CBC/Radio-Canada. Despite their varied current roles, most are veterans of the CBC itself.