Evidence of meeting #96 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was journalists.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
I'm sorry, but the question was this: How can you assure Canadians that you're functioning independently when, in fact, the CBC is reliant on government dollars?
The CBC took offence to Twitter's attaching this label that they do, in fact, receive government dollars, and the CBC admitted that receiving those dollars threatens journalistic independence.
President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada
If I may on the Twitter issue, Mr. Chair, it was the accompanying Elon Musk diatribe that described that government equals state-funded. In the global environment that I have described, where 80% of the population of the planet is—
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Just to be clear, Mr. Chair—just to clear the record, because I know Ms. Tait appreciates clearing records—the label attached was “Government-funded”.
November 2nd, 2023 / 9:25 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada
That is correct, but if you read the diatribe of Elon Musk, you would know that what he was talking about was state-funded, and CBC/Radio-Canada—
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Badgering the witness, not allowing the witness to answer the question, is, again, very unparliamentary. Mrs. Thomas knows this.
Would you ask, Mr. Chair, that she respect the parliamentary rules?
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Martin Champoux
Thank you, Mr. Julian.
Ms. Thomas, perhaps Ms. Tait could finish her answer? You have 30 seconds.
President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada was not the only broadcaster to object to this labelling. It was a move and a campaign on the part of Elon Musk—talking about badgering—to call any public broadcaster and all our colleagues, including ZDF, BBC, France Télévisions, New Zealand, Australia.... All of the public broadcasters were attacked in this way.
It was extremely important for us to clarify, which we—
Conservative
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Martin Champoux
Thank you, Ms. Thomas. Thank you, Ms. Tait. The five minutes are up.
Next, for the Liberals, we have Mr. Noormohamed.
Mr. Noormohamed, you have the floor for five minutes.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Tait, I have a couple of questions for you, and then I'm going to share my time.
My first question is this: Are you aware that other media outlets in Canada, like the National Post, receive a government subsidy or government funding?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Does that make them beholden to the position of the Government of Canada?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Can they maintain whatever independence they feel they are maintaining and still receive government funding?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Did you know that the Conservative Party received Government of Canada COVID subsidies during COVID?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Do you think that it makes them beholden to the point of view of the Government of Canada?
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
Is it fair to assume that a logical person could say, then, that while CBC receives money from the Government of Canada, it could also maintain its independence? Is that a reasonable assumption that Canadians can make?
President and Chief Executive Officer, CBC/Radio-Canada
That's correct, especially with the protections that we have in place, the JSPs, all the levels of management up to the government, all of those checkpoints for independence, and the existence of our ombudsman.
Liberal
Taleeb Noormohamed Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC
For avoidance of that, is it possible for organizations to receive government funding and still be independent?