"In my entire time at the CBC, I never encountered a single open conservative on staff." Quite the diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture that Canadian taxpayers have been supporting.
Marie-Philippe Bouchard and she was lamenting how the CBC needs more funding!!! WOW!!! To do more of the same terrible work!!! She is NOT the person to “FIX” the CBC. The CBC has lost all credibility and that will be extremely difficult and costly to get back. It’s easier to keep a customer than to get a customer to return. I was done with CBC long ago. I am a senior approaching 70. Young people do not care about the CBC. Who are those people you mention who think the CBC should continue. We can not continue CBC because those who used to work think it should be saved.
It has always enraged me that their advertisements say free CBC podcasts and free CBC Gem. No it is not free Canadians are paying over a billion for this disaster.
It would be a mistake, though, to get rid of it in its entirety. My girls grew up with the CBC jingle in the mornings, listening to Stuart McLean on Sundays and "As It Happens" on the way to Ballet in the evenings. Not all young people "hate" the CBC, they just don't know what it is about. I challenge anyone to say it isn't a valuable institution, those who remember how CBC announcers - Vicki Gabereau, Gzowski and others, set up the Red River Rally to help with the floods in Manitoba, Hockey Night in Canada, and so many other wonderful programs. The only institution that ensures those will continue, is a national broadcaster. But not in its current form. I hope those up high will listen to those of us who want to get behind something that's more relevant, as it used to be.
I hear you, but the sun has long set on that institution. It doesn't exist and its not coming back. The words "trusted news source" is now a euphemism. The pinnacle of stupid was achieved when Wendy Mesley was suspended, but the CBC was headed down the drain well before that. There was lots of amazing talent at the network BUT what mattered is that people were free to have an opinion but they didn't try to subvert your. The names Maitland, Enright, Frum meant something. Gabereau, Gzowski along with so many others could be trusted. Stuart McLean was an absolute gem and he could spin a story without fear of cancel culture.
Today, the CBC has talent, I would put Andrew Chang at the top of it but nowhere is there an opinion to that might make you sit up the way Rex Murphy could - or yes even Don Cherry. What you have now is a singular message defined by the executives and diversity is in delivery - it is an equity based mosaic that becomes a mind numbing brain melt. Funny how much better off we were with the uneducated voice of Michael Enright, he was pretty good for someone who dropped out of high school.
I like your optimism but just can't accept that the CBC is capable of much of what you are suggesting it has to do. Personally the constant drumbeat of dis and misinformation along with an overreaching sense of arrogant moral purity leaves me with no sympathy for anyone there. I am sick of being left with the feeling there are things only the CBC can know and that we, the regular Canadians, are just not capable of understanding. I grew up watching Knowlton Nash at 11 o'clock and Cross Country Check up on Sunday nights as we drove home from hockey or football or skiing...and I learned a lot from the presentation of stories from which I was able to form my own thoughts and conclusions. Today, 6 decades later, I feel continually harangued by arrogant talking heads who attempt to define what I should think. I have lost all respect for everyone at the CBC and see it now as a waste of taxpayer money. If the denizens of the CBC truly believe that everything they say is so earth shattering that only they can illuminate our world they should have no problem getting someone other than me to pay for it.
Well argued. I agree with virtually all the recommendations. Two observations that relate to the critique here: both are on topics the CBC seemed to have failed to cover fairly. One is, as mentioned, the trucker protest. While I was also VERY critical of the so-called Freedom Convoy and the extremist elements within it, I did observe the obvious reporting bias of the CBC (they were not alone, however). It was not a healthy effort to understand nor to report evenly or fairly.
Second example is still playing out, which is the obvious mis-coverage of the entire Residential Schools “story” at Kamloops and the obviously mischaracterized “mass graves” and “unearthed student bodies” claims. This story was covered far better by other media often (alas) on the political right. But the CBC, with a rare exception here and there, still refuses to cover or clarify what is becoming a likely scam, hoax or fraud. Now several years after the original band claims, the CBC (and others) continue to misfire by treating critics as “denialists”, obviously also a loaded mischaracterization. One has to wonder what the retrospective assessment of these skewed (ideological?) stories will look like. The CBC will not likely get credit as purveyors of serious journalism. What happened to real reporting?
Thanks Tara for your work to fix the problem, by identifying many of the causal elements.
This is a difficult reply. If we started with how the CBC misrepresents stories we would be here a while, but Tara nailed it in the opening. The CBC is quick to point out that the vast majority of Canadians support funding the CBC; however, they omit "if it addresses its major criticisms."
There are many criticisms and addressing them is unlikely.
The CBC executives have become the governments lead engine for social engineering, but unlike in Russia or a North Korea this doesn't work here. It is no longer 1960 or 1980. Information comes from multiple sources. The CBC deceptions and bias are easily exposed through an internet search. Yet, they try. Whether it is the virtues of a safe supply drug schemes or some other narrative shaming our ancestors and promoting the beauty and benefit of diversity and inclusion, the CBC has decided to feed us our opinion rather than let us form one. When a university (TMU) says equity is more important than merit when it comes to selecting candidates for a medical program, the CBC promotes story as one of achievement. A virtuous triumph that once again the privileged white class is excluded in favour of new immigrants and other "equity deserving" applicants.
Today the CBC has become unbalanced and unhinged. The CBC broadcasts Mae Martin exploring "the science of gender and sexual fluidity" on an episode of The Nature of Things. I have no issue talking about the fantasy and suggesting it is their version of science, but there is no counter balance? Nothing? We are supposed to swallow this scripted fiction redefining sex. Meanwhile, girls as young as 14 get mastectomies as part of their gender journey? No reporting of an article in the National Post that documents the Canadian Institute for Health Information date: there were 602 gender reassignment surgeries (mastectomies) involving girls 18 and under during the period 2018 – 2023. These are the known cases given the private clinics harvesting the breasts of young girls are excluded in the number. Of the 602 surgeries, 303 were performed on girls age 17 and younger. No story in English Canada about girls now crowd funding for breast reconstruction? The CBC took a position on this topic in 2017. Rather than exert independence the CBC pulled a BBC documentary about Canada, entitled: “Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?”, Had this aired the whole transgender trajectory in Canada may have changed. If anything it would result in a discussion and this is what the CBC used to do, spark a conversation. Hence, the conversation now is when can we shut the propaganda machine down. Note: Radio Canada did do an undercover investigation into the trans-movement. Nine minutes! That is how long it took for an unaccompanied 14 year old in Montreal to get a prescription for cross-sex hormones and a suggestion to think about a mastectomy. This was the first appointment. Luckily its all on video!
Robin, please look closer. Yes, you found a couple that make you wonder but there is a litiney of these stories. At its best, in the past, the CBC was an institution that made you think. It didn’t focus on telling you what to think. It didn't view words as harm or as a mode of violence. If their coverage didn’t have a few micro-aggressions it likely wasn't a story. What was beautiful was their immunity. When their values were grounded in truth they could operate without fear because of quasi independence. Then the leadership became an extention of government messaging. It quickly lost its way.
Best example is in the midst on the "non-debate" around the transgender legislation (2016-17). We were fed a narrative. The CBC even bought broadcast rights to a documentary on the issue in Canada. The BBC produced the documentary. It would blow your mind. If broadcast it would have caused people to sit up and take notice. It would be the CBC doing what it does best. The documentary is available if you search Vimeo and the title: "Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?" This documentary is about Canada and the CBC bought the rights and put it on the shelf. Elected (told?) not to broadcast. You can't find it on YouTube, CBC will not permit it.
Where are we now? Here is a snap shot. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is able to give you a sense of "IL-Liberal progress". Since 2018, there have been 602 bilateral mastectomies performed on adolescent girls 18 and under across Canada. Of this 303 involving teens 17 and younger. The youngest to set off on a gender transistion journey (sex change) was 14. You can find several on crowd funding sites trying to get breast reconstruction two in particular come shortly after high school graduation.
I think you are drawing a causation here where it’s mostly correlation. The government does not direct the CBC but the “woke agenda” of the Trudeau government (but not only them) is reflected in a similar CBC framing. That framing is very widespread, in media, government, advertising and academia. Remember that the genocide resolution in the House of Commons (proposed by NDP Leah Gazan) was unanimously adopted. One can pressure the CBC to acknowledge their errors and step away from them, but while the CBC is a kind of left-centrist institution, as have been most Canadians, that doesn’t equate to Pravda.
Robin, thank you. Can we agree that the CBC's independence looks a little clouded and this this discontent is growing? You suggested there are two stories the CBC "failed to cover fairly". The question is why? These were not "one-off" errors in a particular story, these were clear editorial decisions. I don't think the people are incompetent? They are far better "educated" than their predecessors, Michael Enright dropped out of high school. They just want to keep a job, the media landscape that is NOT so hot in the mainstream.
I suggest there are lots more examples where the CBC takes a position of government and provides a news and entertainment foundation to support that agenda. Where we diverge is how much of the editorial and entertainment decisions are politically and/or ideologically influenced. I am suggesting the PMO's office no longer cares about independence.
You seriously believe putting "Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?" on the shelf was done without external influence and political pressure? The IL-Liberal PMO has cast a dark shadow. They have not just trampled over other politicians, as useful idiots that eventually live out their purpose or become annoying, they go directly after the bureaucrats. Lets go way back to the totally unjustified abuse of power that was the prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. The Parliamentary Budget Officer certainly had concerns about his independence.
When you look at how the CBC frames stories and broadcasts fantasy programming, such as the Nature of Things (see the episode hosted by Mae Martin), it is more than an impression that this influence exists. The question is has this influence of CBC Executives (e.g., Catherine Tait) been steering the editorial direction of news coverage? I would say yes. I don't expect you to agree. I also don't expect much of the new CBC Ombudsman; however, before he left Jack Nagler summarized things in his annual report and I will leave it with that, because at a certain point perceptions might actually reflect reality when it is shared widely and many examples triangulate. Nagler is talking about a trend that predates the Pierre Poilievre megaphone:
"One trend that has been building for several years now is how many complaints I receive focused not only on a story’s flaws, but on CBC’s decision to report it in the first place. The prevailing theme of these complaints is that reporters and editors are not making editorial decisions based on public interest, but rather to serve a social or political agenda. This comes up frequently in stories relating to the pandemic. But it comes up as well for stories that relate to partisan politics, race, gender, and other subjects related to equity and justice."
Hi Tara. I adore your work and have followed your Substack since 2021.
I generally observe and try not to comment. However, this is not just a CBC issue.
The abject failing of Canadian Government agencies of all levels, and the loss of Canadian's trust in these once trusted institutions is nauseating. Due to the misuse of our laws(actively upholding some and dismissing others), while our elected lawmakers in parliament are making back room deals with each other(violating ethics until its a joke). The repetitive misuse of Justice, power, police services, medicine, and Canadian tax dollars while repeat criminals run guns and traffic drugs...the backfiring of human rights and DEI policy on society. Using education to brain wash our children , taking away parents rights and voices to speak up in disagreement... while teachers and their Unions are avid activists. Polarization, which you yourself have covered exclusively. Unwelcome and unpopular mass immigration, carbon tax, sending aid to foreign Countries while Canadians suffer with goverment funded drug addictions and homelessness. How did Canada get so screwed up.
'A reckoning is a coming'. Its like a rat infested house. Burn it down and rebuild.
For 5 years the media in this country silenced, lectured, humiliated and fired any voice that did not align with all of these examples of left leaning socialist extremism. And we DESPISE CBC for it.
Gaslighting Canadians and rewarding any who towed the company line. CBC...How about we discuss the campaigns/commercials and tax money spent on the covid vaccine campaign. Corruption, thats what we see, and have seen until we are angry and fatigued. Take our current global predicament of a resigned Prime Minister, proroging parliment effectively holding Canadians hostage while holding back door meetings with unelected businessment to talk about tariffs!
The current CBC is a reflection of all thats failing in our current Canada. You are optimistic and nostalgic Tara, however all the things we loved and trusted about the CBC(and frankly all our govermment) is lost. I personally can't wait to see the CBC dismantled and the pathetic sell outs that walk their halls are at the EI offices. Can't F'n wait.
All of Tara’s suggestions for reforming the CBC are reasonable and they could help restore Canadian’s trust in the media outlet. However, I believe this ship has already sailed as I see no evidence that the CBC has any interest in changing its ways. It is a formerly great institution, much beloved by Canadians of the past, that has forgotten who it serves and why it serves them. Their coverage of the pandemic, the trucker protest and so many other issues has been biased and politicized. The Canadians who have turned away from the CBC all have their reasons for doing so. One wake up moment for me, was when CBC suspended Wendy Mesley, for saying the title of a book. In a moment, after being suspended, investigated and publicly humiliated, her career was over. The lack of compassion or understanding for a journalist who had worked at CBC for many years and was highly respected, was shocking to me. Another wake up moment came for me when a local statue of Queen Victoria was toppled and vandalized during a protest (after possible graves were found at residential schools). This statue had resided in front of our legislative building for more than 100 years. Local CBC coverage seemed to convey that these actions were justified because anti racism protesters were angry about colonialism. They still have a video posted of protesters cheering. No coverage though of people talking about why they were upset or sad because a public monument was destroyed. In the past 5 years CBC has stoked the flames of conflict between Canadians, instead of bringing people together and helping us understand one another. It has vilified individuals and entire groups of Canadians, both past and present. I’m not sure that the CBC can come back from that.
I am not rooting for Ms. Bouchard or the CBC, which daily betrays my trust. I was reflecting today, while listening to CBC, on how much I have learned from just having it on basically all the time. I would not be the person I am without CBC, more or less literate and well-informed. Yet, I don't think it can recover the halcyon days of Peter Gzowski. The world has changed and the idea of a single authoritative voice has become obsolete. The idea of an elected and therefore partisan government funding a non-partisan institution is contradictory. At the same time large scale private media skew towards the trivial and commercial. There must be a third way, and it would seem to be in independent media, like here, with Lean Out, The Free Press and outside of Substack, publications like Compact.
btw, your list is terrific. The idea of a DEI style quota of conservatives is very bold, and amusing. Never going to happen.
Oh Tara, you made the very point that is the problem. CBC gives us a selective narrative; all the news they want us to know, and it is told in a way they want us to hear it. Hence, the critical omission from the question of the very real inconvenient fact. Yes, people would support the CBC BUT only “if it addresses its major criticisms.” There is no shock this point goes under-reported.
I am not so sure one can, or should, try to salvage the CBC. Jen Gerson nailed it beautifully with a long list of “polarizing” issues. The problem wasn’t that the CBC tended to avoid these topics - the profound problem is they picked a side.
What we have is the editorial control over content and a muzzling of voices by the executives. This is disturbing, and I am afraid – unsalvageable. The CBC went on a woke hunt and replaced the articulate dynamics of white opinionated males, like Rex Murphy, with an artificial rainbow of diversity and skin pigmentation. The CBC is fixated on imagery and identity; reflecting the face of Canada. A varied face but it all comes with the same opinion and viewpoint that is provided by management. Actual talent is replaced with scripted talking heads.
This direction is horrific given the one thing the CBC should be is unafraid. They are not tied to corporate interests or advertising dollars, hence impervious to the whims of the woke mob or a cancel culture that can crush a beer brand like a Bud Lite. Sadly, overpaid executives are focused on shaping culture and news operations – when management should be there protecting its independence. Case in point, the decision to pull a BBC documentary about Canada, entitled: “Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?” Had this aired the whole transgender trajectory in Canada may have changed. If anything it would result in what the CBC used to do, spark a conversation. Now as Canadians wake up - we wonder how we got to a point that putting children on a path to a sex change is common place. Ask Saskatchewan NDP MLA Jared Clarke, he has two transgender boys, or perhaps girls. I am actually not sure which it is. Either way he is hailed as a hero and a role model. We need to check back on this on 12 or so years, that is when some of these stories tend to end.
Today, “trust” is no longer a commodity the CBC is concerned with. It is astonishing. Case in point, what do you know about the killing earlier this year near the Canadian boarder of US Border Protection agent David Maland? My guess is not much beyond the headline. Andy Ngo is an independent journalist, he has uncovered a trail of murders and violence that is spread across America. It now involves FBI raids, and an 80-year-old man completely impaled with a samurai sword. Then there is the associated transgender cult led by an individual that staged his own death - this is all connected to the story. Yet the only part that has broad attention and we allowed to quickly fade is the unfortunate death of David Maland. The point, any story with the word “transgender” must be about rainbows and unicorns or it simply doesn’t get mainstream coverage.
Nicely done. Totally agree. Number #13 especially. I bet that it would actually bring more audiences to the CBC if they made these changes. I also find it fascinating that Tara, a former CBC producer, who is not being paid/subsidized by the govt nor the CBC is offering her former employer ways to fix itself. Will they listen? Sadly, probably not.
Tara, nicely presented and prescient. But the CBC is not "an historic institution that sits at the centre of our media, our culture, and our national identity." It is simply "historic"...a used-to-be.
I'm guessing Ms Bouchard has less than 120 days to define and implement what you describe. She must instantly become the "Trump of the CBC"...or face the terminal future the CBC now faces.
No, I don't think it matters. There isn't enough space in the media landscape. If the CBC dies there is hope for Corus. If CBC continues to be a government propaganda arm Corus is gone. The CBC has no credibility and has lost its reason to exist.. Radio-Canada has proven it is capable of independence and freedom of thought, hopefully it remains.
I really do not think that CBC will be completely defunded or it will vanish. I would not want that - I enjoyed many materials. A significant drop in inflowing cash will force them to do a soul-searching and push out the most sold-out, extremist people.
I cannot express the anger that I felt on being constantly censored/deleted off their forum. Innocent comments such as "never in the history was there a strong extreme-right in absence of an extreme-left" were disabled. I have screenshots for all the times when innocent and polite although disagreeing comments were wiped off CBC.ca As soon as Pierre Poilievre won the PC leadership and more and more people started asking for "defund CBC", they cut down on their censorship but they are still representing the narrative of The Establishment.
Yesterday, Jimmy Dore posted a sketch that suggested that Media Editors check all stories with the State Department to determine the Framing. "How Trump Is SHORT-CIRCUITING The Media Narrative Control System! "
I am not in a position to validate these stories, but I can say it fits my experience as when every media organization uses the same language, that is only possible if they have been centrally told what to say.
Bottom line, in order to win me back, CBC needs to demonstrate independence from all levels of Government, and especially the Security Agencies.
Well said Tara. I, for one, believe the CBC should dump their television division, focus on regional and local radio outlets, covering small town stories along with big city and Federal issues. That is the only way we can regain trust in our national institution.
"In my entire time at the CBC, I never encountered a single open conservative on staff." Quite the diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture that Canadian taxpayers have been supporting.
Marie-Philippe Bouchard and she was lamenting how the CBC needs more funding!!! WOW!!! To do more of the same terrible work!!! She is NOT the person to “FIX” the CBC. The CBC has lost all credibility and that will be extremely difficult and costly to get back. It’s easier to keep a customer than to get a customer to return. I was done with CBC long ago. I am a senior approaching 70. Young people do not care about the CBC. Who are those people you mention who think the CBC should continue. We can not continue CBC because those who used to work think it should be saved.
It has always enraged me that their advertisements say free CBC podcasts and free CBC Gem. No it is not free Canadians are paying over a billion for this disaster.
It would be a mistake, though, to get rid of it in its entirety. My girls grew up with the CBC jingle in the mornings, listening to Stuart McLean on Sundays and "As It Happens" on the way to Ballet in the evenings. Not all young people "hate" the CBC, they just don't know what it is about. I challenge anyone to say it isn't a valuable institution, those who remember how CBC announcers - Vicki Gabereau, Gzowski and others, set up the Red River Rally to help with the floods in Manitoba, Hockey Night in Canada, and so many other wonderful programs. The only institution that ensures those will continue, is a national broadcaster. But not in its current form. I hope those up high will listen to those of us who want to get behind something that's more relevant, as it used to be.
I hear you, but the sun has long set on that institution. It doesn't exist and its not coming back. The words "trusted news source" is now a euphemism. The pinnacle of stupid was achieved when Wendy Mesley was suspended, but the CBC was headed down the drain well before that. There was lots of amazing talent at the network BUT what mattered is that people were free to have an opinion but they didn't try to subvert your. The names Maitland, Enright, Frum meant something. Gabereau, Gzowski along with so many others could be trusted. Stuart McLean was an absolute gem and he could spin a story without fear of cancel culture.
Today, the CBC has talent, I would put Andrew Chang at the top of it but nowhere is there an opinion to that might make you sit up the way Rex Murphy could - or yes even Don Cherry. What you have now is a singular message defined by the executives and diversity is in delivery - it is an equity based mosaic that becomes a mind numbing brain melt. Funny how much better off we were with the uneducated voice of Michael Enright, he was pretty good for someone who dropped out of high school.
I like your optimism but just can't accept that the CBC is capable of much of what you are suggesting it has to do. Personally the constant drumbeat of dis and misinformation along with an overreaching sense of arrogant moral purity leaves me with no sympathy for anyone there. I am sick of being left with the feeling there are things only the CBC can know and that we, the regular Canadians, are just not capable of understanding. I grew up watching Knowlton Nash at 11 o'clock and Cross Country Check up on Sunday nights as we drove home from hockey or football or skiing...and I learned a lot from the presentation of stories from which I was able to form my own thoughts and conclusions. Today, 6 decades later, I feel continually harangued by arrogant talking heads who attempt to define what I should think. I have lost all respect for everyone at the CBC and see it now as a waste of taxpayer money. If the denizens of the CBC truly believe that everything they say is so earth shattering that only they can illuminate our world they should have no problem getting someone other than me to pay for it.
Well argued. I agree with virtually all the recommendations. Two observations that relate to the critique here: both are on topics the CBC seemed to have failed to cover fairly. One is, as mentioned, the trucker protest. While I was also VERY critical of the so-called Freedom Convoy and the extremist elements within it, I did observe the obvious reporting bias of the CBC (they were not alone, however). It was not a healthy effort to understand nor to report evenly or fairly.
Second example is still playing out, which is the obvious mis-coverage of the entire Residential Schools “story” at Kamloops and the obviously mischaracterized “mass graves” and “unearthed student bodies” claims. This story was covered far better by other media often (alas) on the political right. But the CBC, with a rare exception here and there, still refuses to cover or clarify what is becoming a likely scam, hoax or fraud. Now several years after the original band claims, the CBC (and others) continue to misfire by treating critics as “denialists”, obviously also a loaded mischaracterization. One has to wonder what the retrospective assessment of these skewed (ideological?) stories will look like. The CBC will not likely get credit as purveyors of serious journalism. What happened to real reporting?
Thanks Tara for your work to fix the problem, by identifying many of the causal elements.
Agreed. The Free Press blew the lid off it declaring it a hoax. Did the CBC ever correct themselves? https://www.thefp.com/p/the-great-canadian-mass-graves-hoax
It wasn’t the Free Press, though. It was Terry Glavin and a few others.
This is a difficult reply. If we started with how the CBC misrepresents stories we would be here a while, but Tara nailed it in the opening. The CBC is quick to point out that the vast majority of Canadians support funding the CBC; however, they omit "if it addresses its major criticisms."
There are many criticisms and addressing them is unlikely.
The CBC executives have become the governments lead engine for social engineering, but unlike in Russia or a North Korea this doesn't work here. It is no longer 1960 or 1980. Information comes from multiple sources. The CBC deceptions and bias are easily exposed through an internet search. Yet, they try. Whether it is the virtues of a safe supply drug schemes or some other narrative shaming our ancestors and promoting the beauty and benefit of diversity and inclusion, the CBC has decided to feed us our opinion rather than let us form one. When a university (TMU) says equity is more important than merit when it comes to selecting candidates for a medical program, the CBC promotes story as one of achievement. A virtuous triumph that once again the privileged white class is excluded in favour of new immigrants and other "equity deserving" applicants.
Today the CBC has become unbalanced and unhinged. The CBC broadcasts Mae Martin exploring "the science of gender and sexual fluidity" on an episode of The Nature of Things. I have no issue talking about the fantasy and suggesting it is their version of science, but there is no counter balance? Nothing? We are supposed to swallow this scripted fiction redefining sex. Meanwhile, girls as young as 14 get mastectomies as part of their gender journey? No reporting of an article in the National Post that documents the Canadian Institute for Health Information date: there were 602 gender reassignment surgeries (mastectomies) involving girls 18 and under during the period 2018 – 2023. These are the known cases given the private clinics harvesting the breasts of young girls are excluded in the number. Of the 602 surgeries, 303 were performed on girls age 17 and younger. No story in English Canada about girls now crowd funding for breast reconstruction? The CBC took a position on this topic in 2017. Rather than exert independence the CBC pulled a BBC documentary about Canada, entitled: “Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?”, Had this aired the whole transgender trajectory in Canada may have changed. If anything it would result in a discussion and this is what the CBC used to do, spark a conversation. Hence, the conversation now is when can we shut the propaganda machine down. Note: Radio Canada did do an undercover investigation into the trans-movement. Nine minutes! That is how long it took for an unaccompanied 14 year old in Montreal to get a prescription for cross-sex hormones and a suggestion to think about a mastectomy. This was the first appointment. Luckily its all on video!
Robin, please look closer. Yes, you found a couple that make you wonder but there is a litiney of these stories. At its best, in the past, the CBC was an institution that made you think. It didn’t focus on telling you what to think. It didn't view words as harm or as a mode of violence. If their coverage didn’t have a few micro-aggressions it likely wasn't a story. What was beautiful was their immunity. When their values were grounded in truth they could operate without fear because of quasi independence. Then the leadership became an extention of government messaging. It quickly lost its way.
Best example is in the midst on the "non-debate" around the transgender legislation (2016-17). We were fed a narrative. The CBC even bought broadcast rights to a documentary on the issue in Canada. The BBC produced the documentary. It would blow your mind. If broadcast it would have caused people to sit up and take notice. It would be the CBC doing what it does best. The documentary is available if you search Vimeo and the title: "Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?" This documentary is about Canada and the CBC bought the rights and put it on the shelf. Elected (told?) not to broadcast. You can't find it on YouTube, CBC will not permit it.
Where are we now? Here is a snap shot. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is able to give you a sense of "IL-Liberal progress". Since 2018, there have been 602 bilateral mastectomies performed on adolescent girls 18 and under across Canada. Of this 303 involving teens 17 and younger. The youngest to set off on a gender transistion journey (sex change) was 14. You can find several on crowd funding sites trying to get breast reconstruction two in particular come shortly after high school graduation.
I think you are drawing a causation here where it’s mostly correlation. The government does not direct the CBC but the “woke agenda” of the Trudeau government (but not only them) is reflected in a similar CBC framing. That framing is very widespread, in media, government, advertising and academia. Remember that the genocide resolution in the House of Commons (proposed by NDP Leah Gazan) was unanimously adopted. One can pressure the CBC to acknowledge their errors and step away from them, but while the CBC is a kind of left-centrist institution, as have been most Canadians, that doesn’t equate to Pravda.
Robin, thank you. Can we agree that the CBC's independence looks a little clouded and this this discontent is growing? You suggested there are two stories the CBC "failed to cover fairly". The question is why? These were not "one-off" errors in a particular story, these were clear editorial decisions. I don't think the people are incompetent? They are far better "educated" than their predecessors, Michael Enright dropped out of high school. They just want to keep a job, the media landscape that is NOT so hot in the mainstream.
I suggest there are lots more examples where the CBC takes a position of government and provides a news and entertainment foundation to support that agenda. Where we diverge is how much of the editorial and entertainment decisions are politically and/or ideologically influenced. I am suggesting the PMO's office no longer cares about independence.
You seriously believe putting "Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?" on the shelf was done without external influence and political pressure? The IL-Liberal PMO has cast a dark shadow. They have not just trampled over other politicians, as useful idiots that eventually live out their purpose or become annoying, they go directly after the bureaucrats. Lets go way back to the totally unjustified abuse of power that was the prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. The Parliamentary Budget Officer certainly had concerns about his independence.
When you look at how the CBC frames stories and broadcasts fantasy programming, such as the Nature of Things (see the episode hosted by Mae Martin), it is more than an impression that this influence exists. The question is has this influence of CBC Executives (e.g., Catherine Tait) been steering the editorial direction of news coverage? I would say yes. I don't expect you to agree. I also don't expect much of the new CBC Ombudsman; however, before he left Jack Nagler summarized things in his annual report and I will leave it with that, because at a certain point perceptions might actually reflect reality when it is shared widely and many examples triangulate. Nagler is talking about a trend that predates the Pierre Poilievre megaphone:
"One trend that has been building for several years now is how many complaints I receive focused not only on a story’s flaws, but on CBC’s decision to report it in the first place. The prevailing theme of these complaints is that reporters and editors are not making editorial decisions based on public interest, but rather to serve a social or political agenda. This comes up frequently in stories relating to the pandemic. But it comes up as well for stories that relate to partisan politics, race, gender, and other subjects related to equity and justice."
Hi Tara. I adore your work and have followed your Substack since 2021.
I generally observe and try not to comment. However, this is not just a CBC issue.
The abject failing of Canadian Government agencies of all levels, and the loss of Canadian's trust in these once trusted institutions is nauseating. Due to the misuse of our laws(actively upholding some and dismissing others), while our elected lawmakers in parliament are making back room deals with each other(violating ethics until its a joke). The repetitive misuse of Justice, power, police services, medicine, and Canadian tax dollars while repeat criminals run guns and traffic drugs...the backfiring of human rights and DEI policy on society. Using education to brain wash our children , taking away parents rights and voices to speak up in disagreement... while teachers and their Unions are avid activists. Polarization, which you yourself have covered exclusively. Unwelcome and unpopular mass immigration, carbon tax, sending aid to foreign Countries while Canadians suffer with goverment funded drug addictions and homelessness. How did Canada get so screwed up.
'A reckoning is a coming'. Its like a rat infested house. Burn it down and rebuild.
For 5 years the media in this country silenced, lectured, humiliated and fired any voice that did not align with all of these examples of left leaning socialist extremism. And we DESPISE CBC for it.
Gaslighting Canadians and rewarding any who towed the company line. CBC...How about we discuss the campaigns/commercials and tax money spent on the covid vaccine campaign. Corruption, thats what we see, and have seen until we are angry and fatigued. Take our current global predicament of a resigned Prime Minister, proroging parliment effectively holding Canadians hostage while holding back door meetings with unelected businessment to talk about tariffs!
The current CBC is a reflection of all thats failing in our current Canada. You are optimistic and nostalgic Tara, however all the things we loved and trusted about the CBC(and frankly all our govermment) is lost. I personally can't wait to see the CBC dismantled and the pathetic sell outs that walk their halls are at the EI offices. Can't F'n wait.
All of Tara’s suggestions for reforming the CBC are reasonable and they could help restore Canadian’s trust in the media outlet. However, I believe this ship has already sailed as I see no evidence that the CBC has any interest in changing its ways. It is a formerly great institution, much beloved by Canadians of the past, that has forgotten who it serves and why it serves them. Their coverage of the pandemic, the trucker protest and so many other issues has been biased and politicized. The Canadians who have turned away from the CBC all have their reasons for doing so. One wake up moment for me, was when CBC suspended Wendy Mesley, for saying the title of a book. In a moment, after being suspended, investigated and publicly humiliated, her career was over. The lack of compassion or understanding for a journalist who had worked at CBC for many years and was highly respected, was shocking to me. Another wake up moment came for me when a local statue of Queen Victoria was toppled and vandalized during a protest (after possible graves were found at residential schools). This statue had resided in front of our legislative building for more than 100 years. Local CBC coverage seemed to convey that these actions were justified because anti racism protesters were angry about colonialism. They still have a video posted of protesters cheering. No coverage though of people talking about why they were upset or sad because a public monument was destroyed. In the past 5 years CBC has stoked the flames of conflict between Canadians, instead of bringing people together and helping us understand one another. It has vilified individuals and entire groups of Canadians, both past and present. I’m not sure that the CBC can come back from that.
I am not rooting for Ms. Bouchard or the CBC, which daily betrays my trust. I was reflecting today, while listening to CBC, on how much I have learned from just having it on basically all the time. I would not be the person I am without CBC, more or less literate and well-informed. Yet, I don't think it can recover the halcyon days of Peter Gzowski. The world has changed and the idea of a single authoritative voice has become obsolete. The idea of an elected and therefore partisan government funding a non-partisan institution is contradictory. At the same time large scale private media skew towards the trivial and commercial. There must be a third way, and it would seem to be in independent media, like here, with Lean Out, The Free Press and outside of Substack, publications like Compact.
btw, your list is terrific. The idea of a DEI style quota of conservatives is very bold, and amusing. Never going to happen.
Oh Tara, you made the very point that is the problem. CBC gives us a selective narrative; all the news they want us to know, and it is told in a way they want us to hear it. Hence, the critical omission from the question of the very real inconvenient fact. Yes, people would support the CBC BUT only “if it addresses its major criticisms.” There is no shock this point goes under-reported.
I am not so sure one can, or should, try to salvage the CBC. Jen Gerson nailed it beautifully with a long list of “polarizing” issues. The problem wasn’t that the CBC tended to avoid these topics - the profound problem is they picked a side.
What we have is the editorial control over content and a muzzling of voices by the executives. This is disturbing, and I am afraid – unsalvageable. The CBC went on a woke hunt and replaced the articulate dynamics of white opinionated males, like Rex Murphy, with an artificial rainbow of diversity and skin pigmentation. The CBC is fixated on imagery and identity; reflecting the face of Canada. A varied face but it all comes with the same opinion and viewpoint that is provided by management. Actual talent is replaced with scripted talking heads.
This direction is horrific given the one thing the CBC should be is unafraid. They are not tied to corporate interests or advertising dollars, hence impervious to the whims of the woke mob or a cancel culture that can crush a beer brand like a Bud Lite. Sadly, overpaid executives are focused on shaping culture and news operations – when management should be there protecting its independence. Case in point, the decision to pull a BBC documentary about Canada, entitled: “Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?” Had this aired the whole transgender trajectory in Canada may have changed. If anything it would result in what the CBC used to do, spark a conversation. Now as Canadians wake up - we wonder how we got to a point that putting children on a path to a sex change is common place. Ask Saskatchewan NDP MLA Jared Clarke, he has two transgender boys, or perhaps girls. I am actually not sure which it is. Either way he is hailed as a hero and a role model. We need to check back on this on 12 or so years, that is when some of these stories tend to end.
Today, “trust” is no longer a commodity the CBC is concerned with. It is astonishing. Case in point, what do you know about the killing earlier this year near the Canadian boarder of US Border Protection agent David Maland? My guess is not much beyond the headline. Andy Ngo is an independent journalist, he has uncovered a trail of murders and violence that is spread across America. It now involves FBI raids, and an 80-year-old man completely impaled with a samurai sword. Then there is the associated transgender cult led by an individual that staged his own death - this is all connected to the story. Yet the only part that has broad attention and we allowed to quickly fade is the unfortunate death of David Maland. The point, any story with the word “transgender” must be about rainbows and unicorns or it simply doesn’t get mainstream coverage.
Nicely done. Totally agree. Number #13 especially. I bet that it would actually bring more audiences to the CBC if they made these changes. I also find it fascinating that Tara, a former CBC producer, who is not being paid/subsidized by the govt nor the CBC is offering her former employer ways to fix itself. Will they listen? Sadly, probably not.
Tara, nicely presented and prescient. But the CBC is not "an historic institution that sits at the centre of our media, our culture, and our national identity." It is simply "historic"...a used-to-be.
I'm guessing Ms Bouchard has less than 120 days to define and implement what you describe. She must instantly become the "Trump of the CBC"...or face the terminal future the CBC now faces.
No, I don't think it matters. There isn't enough space in the media landscape. If the CBC dies there is hope for Corus. If CBC continues to be a government propaganda arm Corus is gone. The CBC has no credibility and has lost its reason to exist.. Radio-Canada has proven it is capable of independence and freedom of thought, hopefully it remains.
Agree. Radio-Canada has good utility.
radio canada is not what it once was , it has lost a lot
Thank you, Tara. This has all needed saying for a long time, and deserves to be acted on immediately.
Bang on!
I really do not think that CBC will be completely defunded or it will vanish. I would not want that - I enjoyed many materials. A significant drop in inflowing cash will force them to do a soul-searching and push out the most sold-out, extremist people.
I cannot express the anger that I felt on being constantly censored/deleted off their forum. Innocent comments such as "never in the history was there a strong extreme-right in absence of an extreme-left" were disabled. I have screenshots for all the times when innocent and polite although disagreeing comments were wiped off CBC.ca As soon as Pierre Poilievre won the PC leadership and more and more people started asking for "defund CBC", they cut down on their censorship but they are still representing the narrative of The Establishment.
This morning, the Headline at Zero Hedge is "USAID Funded Massive 'News' Platform, Extending 'Censorship Industrial Complex' To Billions Worldwide" https://www.zerohedge.com/political/usaid-funded-massive-global-state-propaganda-news-matrix-nearly-billion-people-reach and it then goes on to describe an organization called "Interviews Network" and how it distributes $500 Million to media organizations around the world.
Yesterday, Jimmy Dore posted a sketch that suggested that Media Editors check all stories with the State Department to determine the Framing. "How Trump Is SHORT-CIRCUITING The Media Narrative Control System! "
I am not in a position to validate these stories, but I can say it fits my experience as when every media organization uses the same language, that is only possible if they have been centrally told what to say.
Bottom line, in order to win me back, CBC needs to demonstrate independence from all levels of Government, and especially the Security Agencies.
Well said Tara. I, for one, believe the CBC should dump their television division, focus on regional and local radio outlets, covering small town stories along with big city and Federal issues. That is the only way we can regain trust in our national institution.
Tara - thank you!
The only problem with your article is the liberal press will only cover the portion they want.
If the cbc did what you propose it not only could save it and perhaps the free press in Canada, but it could save a part of the OLD fabric of Canada.
Keep doing the great work you do.
Bruce Cameron.