Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour to speak to this topic and correct the member on a number of assertions he made that are clearly wrong. I do not mind coming in to correct the member on where he is wrong. I consider it to be part of my role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage to make sure that we explain all the good work the department is doing.
CBC is one of those areas where our government made a firm commitment during the last election, and the election before that, that we would maintain and increase funding to the CBC. We promised that we would at least maintain it, but in fact, we have increased it.
Just this year, there is an extra $60 million for the CBC. Funding is now well in excess of $1.1 billion, almost $200 million more than what it received under the previous government when the Liberals were in power. I believe the member was a member of that government.
In fact, I remember that exchange and the hon. member went on a bit of a walk down memory lane and was talking about the good old days of the CBC. He just missed the 13 years when the Liberal Party was in power, when the Liberals cut so much out of the heart of the CBC. There were $400 million in cuts, thousands and thousands of CBC employees let go, programming scrapped, coverages that it could not manage any more. That was the record of the Liberal Party.
In the 1993 Liberal red book the Liberals said they would put more money into the CBC, but they cut $400 million. In 1997, red book part two, the sequel no one wanted, they once again promised to increase funding to the CBC, but once again the Liberals cut the funding. It went to an all-time low under the Liberal Party. What a horrible record. What a record of shame when it comes to the CBC.
Let us talk about our record on the CBC. There has been more money for the CBC each and every year that we have been in power. We have been there for the CBC. We have supported the CBC. We have held true to our commitment. Now the CBC is obviously experiencing the same economic downturn that regular Canadians are facing. Everyday Canadians are saying that these are tough economic times. People are being forced to make tough choices.
The CBC has seen its advertising revenues drop, but not because of the Conservative Party. We actually offered to spend some money on some ads with the CBC, but the CBC does not want money from the Conservative Party for our ads. I think our ads are quite witty, quite well done. If I were at the CBC, I might consider running them, but the CBC is an independent body. It is an arm's length crown corporation. It can make those decisions and there is nothing wrong with that.
What I will say is when it comes to government support for the CBC, our government has held true to our word. We have provided the support that CBC needs. I am glad that the CBC has made that commitment to Labrador. I am glad it made the commitment to continue Labrador Morning, which the member spoke so eloquently about. I know the people of Labrador appreciate that service. I know it is a valuable service. I am glad CBC has made that decision.