Mr. Speaker, the cuts that were announced in last February's budget were $123 million, not the figure quoted by the member.
Unfortunately those cuts were announced on top of the previous cuts which total a very difficult circumstance for the CBC. The total package of cuts will result in reductions of about 23 per cent.
Over the last three years one of the things we have had to do as a government is to cut very significantly. We have had to let 40,000 people go across the public service. We have had to cut in ministries and we have had to cut across departments.
The CBC management and board have been working very hard to ensure that in the face of very difficult circumstances they can continue to occupy a very unique niche in the marketplace.
Unlike certain members of the opposition who are calling for the privatization of the CBC, I believe that the CBC has a very important public role to play. We are still investing almost a billion dollars of taxpayers' money in the CBC.