Chances are that Donald J. Trump, the now and possible future President of the United States, has never heard of the CBC. He probably thinks the first two letters refer to Cheese Burgers.
But the ‘very stable genius’ may have handed our embattled national broadcaster a lifeline.
Canadians are in a patriot fervor these days, or at least as patriotic as this famously undemonstrative nation ever gets. With Trump bashing Canada at every opportunity, threatening ruinous tariffs and trolling (I think) the nation by suggesting we become the 51st state, Canadians are exhibiting pride in our country not seen since the Canada-Russia Summit Series of 1972. Thousands are forgoing trips to the U.S. The Star Spangled Banner is booed at hockey games. Most importantly, we are parsing every label on products we buy, looking for Made in Canada bona fides. (The Facebook page Made in Canada has soared to more than 1.1 million members.)
So how does this help the CBC?
Last year, the Conservative Party of Canada, led by Pierre Poilievre, seemed certain of forming the next government. Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party was primed for an electoral defeat of near-historic proportions. But Trudeau, in a display of self-awareness never before seen from the Oblivious One, announced his retirement on Jan.7, setting off a leadership campaign.
With Trudeau on his way out and Marc Carney the frontrunner to replace him, support for the Liberals has surged. The CPC is still ahead in the polls, but their once colossal lead has dwindled. Six weeks ago, the Conservatives seemed a sure bet, ahead of the Liberals by an average of 25 points. Now, that lead is in the single digits.
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Now Poilievre is changing his tune. Sure, he still shouts ‘axe the tax’ like a child who has just learned his first words, but one of his crowd pleasers has vanished; Defund the CBC.
For years, Poilievre has had a vendetta against the national broadcaster (and all news media for that matter), based on the perceived pro-Liberal bias of CBC news. ‘Defund the CBC’ was a staple of every Poiliever speech.
But at a recent public appearance, Pius Pierre only referred to “wasteful spending” of the government, which included the CBC, saying that “nobody watches the CBC”. But ‘defund’ has disappeared. The CPP website only has an online petition to defund the CBC, buried deep in the website.
With Canadians searching for ways to support all things Canuck, how would it look for a potential prime minister to threaten to pull the funding for a network that produces more home-grown TV in one week’s broadcasting than all private broadcasters combined?
Now, I’m not saying I love the CBC. I’ve never even seen most of their programming. Murdoch Mysteries has been on the air for 18 years and 300+ episodes, and I haven’t seen one. Ditto Heartland, a family-friendly, Alberta-filmed series also in its 18th season. (Mind you, I haven’t seen an episode of any U.S. show with the letters CSI, NCIS, or FBI, at least not since the Efrem Zimbalist Jr. years.) But I’m a fan of Son of a Critch, Family Feud Canada (thanks entirely to Gerry Dee) and Still Standing.
CBC, like all broadcast networks, is a mixed bag; a lot of bad or mediocre, some good (Schitt’s Creek aired first on CBC). But CBC is the only network in Canada producing shows that are proudly, undeniably Canadian. Now that we’re all loudly proclaiming our love for this country, no political party will advocate defunding anything Canadian. And that includes the CBC.
Contributor Maurice Tougas resides in Edmonton, Alberta. Opposing views welcome but good luck working in a better reference to Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
