Mr. Speaker, I note that there is no increased funding for the CBC in this budget and funding for the CBC has been savagely cut in the past 10 years by the former Liberal government. I wish the Conservative government would support the alternative budget proposed by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that would provide the CBC with $20 million in start-up money and $22 million for annual operating expenses. This funding would go a long way to assist the CBC to be our national voice. Without this type of funding, the CBC is destroying its own infrastructure to survive.
The board of directors of the CBC is meeting today as we speak and I hope the board would choose to maintain the famous CBC design department. There is tremendous historic knowledge and expertise in this department. Closing the design workshop would be to throw away a magnificent collection of props and costumes. This is the equivalent of throwing away 50 years of Canadian television history and it will further weaken the country's main hub of film and television production.
Is the government really willing to stand by and let this happen under its watch?