Of course the management of the CBC needs to be at arm's length from government decision-making; otherwise it would be a state broadcaster. But that doesn't mean we cannot criticize some of their decisions, and faced with the regrettable situation of the cuts that were made a month ago, one of their managers said that what they would do is identify the cost to reach a given individual, and where those costs were higher, they would make more cuts. If you think about that for a minute, it means wherever you have a huge community like Toronto, you have a huge denominator, and therefore the cost per individual is going to be lower. So whoever made that decision inside the CBC was automatically discriminating against Timmins, James Bay, Kamloops, and Newfoundland.
So that is not something that should have happened, but I think you have to look at it in the context that, as your committee established a year ago through careful study, the corporation needs more money to do its job. I have submitted to you today that public opinion is supportive of that—not just supportive, but very supportive: 26% of Canadians were opposed to your recommendation, 20% thought your recommendation was too low, and 54% supported it. That's pretty strong.