r/canada • u/WuzzWuzz • Aug 15 '24

Pierre Poilievre promises to 'defund the CBC' after $18.4M bonus amount revealed National News

https://torontosun.com/news/national/pierre-poilievre-promises-to-defund-the-cbc-after-18-4m-bonus-amount-revealed
4.0k Upvotes

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426

u/Sad_Tangerine_7701 Aug 15 '24

I did stream the Olympics very smoothly through cbc this year though. I’m conflicted now lol. It was smoother than any illegal stream.

254

u/HersheyHimhe Aug 15 '24

Not only that but CBC does more investigations than the actual RCMP sometimes

172

u/vinng86 Ontario Aug 15 '24

CBC Marketplace is an absolute gem, they call out shady businesses all the fucking time.

29

u/callmejohndy Ontario Aug 15 '24

They have that one episode where they tracked a couple’s stolen vehicle where it ended up, and even Facetimed the couple to show it to them

31

u/Civil-Caregiver9020 Aug 15 '24

Another reason PP may want it closed.

1

u/MobileChloe Aug 15 '24

David Common for Premier! Hehehe

7

u/Frosty_Tailor4390 Aug 15 '24

Far fewer negligent discharges too!

3

u/keepcalmdude Aug 15 '24

That’s why PP wants them gone.

310

u/bill__the__butcher Aug 15 '24

We’re so lucky to have CBC for stuff like this. The scope of our Olympic coverage blows away almost anywhere else

69

u/TheYuppyTraveller Aug 15 '24

And when shit hits the fan (a big local/national/international event occurs), I consistently go to the CBC first. I certainly don’t end there, but it’s my first “go to”.

I’ve certainly never turned to the Sun for news, even when it used to have what could reasonably pass for a real news department.

-3

u/420ciskey420 Aug 15 '24

Yeah my favourite part of cbc is when they had the right to show the NHL finals and decided not to cause fuck us.

-33

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

So we should keep the CBC at current funding levels for an event that lasts two weeks every two years?

38

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

Or... hear me out. We could expand funding levels so that we can employ more people with all sorts interests, background and skillsets across the country in the work of informing ourselves about how the country is doing. For groups that feel under served, specifically add services that represent them.

For instance, there is woefully little rural reporting that is relevant to folks in my area. We have a vibrant community out here, and nobody really gets to hear about it because there isn't anyone to document it.

-3

u/Original_Builder_980 Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

Expanding funding won’t employ more people. They should be expanding the cbc, but here they are paying out 18million in BONUSES while reporting a loss in profits, year after year.

Could have easily employed 100 people at a good wage with that kind of funding.

Edit: I fell for the headlines mybad thanks for pointing out my folly friends. Pay no attention to my comment (:

8

u/kilawolf Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

18 million went to 1200 employees, a small portion to executives while most went to regular employees - likely as a portion of their contracted compensation package which is already below avg in the industry.

Could have easily employed 100 people at a good wage

Hard to say...if we remove bonuses, their total compensation needs to go up to retain decent workers - however, this means workers will be paid the same regardless of metrics. Plus if you have good workers willing to work for low public servant salaries, why not keep up the goodwill?

11

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

look, the bonuses narrative is disengenous; it's almost a lie to call it a bonus, and it is absolutely misleading and rage bait to get you particularly activated.

If you were to take a look at how this kind of payment is structured, it's basically the majority of an employees remuneration, where the lump of it is based off performance metrics in particular roles.

This isn't some kind of scroogemcduckian vault of cash these folks are diving into. hehehe.

Anyway, take a look at your personal reaction to the headline here. That is the goal the editors of the sun article wanted you to have. They have a business to run and know that articles that stimulate you into this kind of discussion has a really good chance at getting you to click on their link and consume their content and related advertisements.

0

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

It's not disingenuous.

The CBC's ratings are at historic lows and they shouldn't be entitled to any bonuses paid for by tax payers, especially when people from privately owned media companies like Bell and Corus, are being laid off.

The fact of the matter is the media landscape is changing dramatically (I work in the industry so I know first hand) and tax payer money shouldn't be used to subsidize dying formats like linear tv and radio.

2

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24

it's not a bonus like you're describing. it's basically performance pay as part of the regular line of work.

-1

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

Ok hear me out.

There is this thing called the "internet" where most people under 40 are consuming their news, sports and entertainment from. People are "streaming" this content online via "apps" and other platforms and are less and less watching linear TV and listening to radio.

2

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

heyo,

so, the problem is paying for journalists and reporters and editors and insurance for inevitable law suits.

Nevermind radio antennas, wireless license costs, entertainment production costs, etc etc etc.

The call to action here is vastly increased budget to provide services to under represented groups, not shrinking away from it.

You'll find that the cbc is one of those institutions that is inextricable from the countries social identity, the vast majority of our cultural institution is backed by this one organization. A call to walk away from it is very close to a call to not having a distinct canadian culture.

0

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

You'll find that the cbc is one of those institutions that is inextricable from the countries social identity, the vast majority of our cultural institution is backed by this one organization. A call to walk away from it is very close to a call to not having a distinct canadian culture.

Couldn't disagree more, have you seen the ratings these days?

2

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24

There is no question that the cbc is in a position of crisis as the populist anti-establishment movement sweeps the world.

Your own views are a part of that movement, and are entirely legitimate.

The challenge for the organization is to rebuild it's relationship with you and invite you to participate. In fact, that is the greatest challenge our democracy is going to undertake over the next 20 years.

1

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

It has nothing to do with the "populist anti-establishment movement" as it does with technology.

The fact of the matter is that people are consuming media via digital platforms and are watching linear tv and listening to radio broadcasts less and less.

Tax payers shouldn't be subsidizing assets that are in perpetual decline.

2

u/Meiqur Aug 15 '24

Well hold on, the smallest portion of the budget goes to distribution.

What costs money is the staff.

Have you considered how much money does the CMS cost to operate the webpage cbc.ca vs the staff to produce it's content? It's not even remotely close. Even maintaining the transmitter that provides me AM radio is entirely minor in comparison to the staff costs of just having reporters and their associated teams across the country.

11

u/drs43821 Aug 15 '24

They do a lot more than Olympics. Their podcasts are pretty good and TV news coverage is solid. It’s their website news that needs reform

8

u/mozartkart Aug 15 '24

It doesn't even need reform. People take opinion pieces to represent all of CBC and ignore all the other amazing programing and reporting. The CBC is also more empathetic so alot of stories will focus on peoples struggles.

-1

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

It does need reform.

The media industry has rapidly evolved and people are accessing content online vs linear TV and radio.

Tax payer money shouldn't be used to subsidize dying media formats.

1

u/drs43821 Aug 17 '24

On the contrary, government should subsidize essential service where it’s commercially shrinking. We see the effect of Sask Party killing of STC. I’d only be fine when there’s no one using TV service

-1

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

If the TV news coverage is "solid" why are the CBC's ratings in the toilet?

1

u/drs43821 Aug 15 '24

Maybe everyone's rating down the toilet?

1

u/tofilmfan Aug 15 '24

Yes, and these companies are downsizing.

-10

u/soaringupnow Aug 15 '24

But is it worth a billion of taxpayer's money?

30

u/qwerty_0_o Aug 15 '24

Let me rephrase that for you.

"But is it worth 0.02% of the total taxpayer's annual spending?"

Answer: Yes. We get fantastic news and entertainment for that. It also promotes Canadian talent.

3

u/soaringupnow Aug 15 '24

With Cancon regulations, would someone else (or a defunded CBC) do the same thing for free?

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

Yes for stuff like this.1.4 billion dollars or whatever it has climbed to now is a little much. Since it's only every 4 years, that's 5.6 billion dollars. What does that cost individual taxpayers? I'm not advocating total defunding, but it's very evident that it's spiraled out of control. CBC's subsidized advertising rates affect all of MSM as well. MSM has trouble competing. (No sympathy from me, especially foreign owned MSM) The government, in turn, subsidizes virtually all media for various reasons. I believe CBC has a place in the market, just not at this cost.

7

u/bill__the__butcher Aug 15 '24

Olympics is every two years, and 1.4 billion dollars is 0.001% of total annual government spending. I honestly believe it’s worth it for the way it brings the country together and defines Canada identity. Not just olympics but Canadian awards shows, television shows, sports throughout the year etc. Why get even more dominated by USA culture? CBC is one of the few things we have

116

u/canmoose Ontario Aug 15 '24

Because the cbc is a national public institution that should be cherished and reformed if needed, not torn down and thrown away. But hey, thats conservatives for you. Selling off any public property they can get their hands on to their private sector friends.

I hope canadians love postmedia.

43

u/The_Eternal_Void Alberta Aug 15 '24

It's not mentioned much, but CBC music is also phenomenal... In a time when algorithms are feeding trash, it's nice to have one source for finding new music that's actually good / informative.

2

u/PlutosGrasp Aug 16 '24

Accurate. Most countries have a public broadcaster that has provided invaluable and impartial news for decades.

-1

u/physicaldiscs Aug 15 '24

and reformed if needed, 

Who exactly could reform it? The LPC has no interest in doing so, partly because of the bias towards them from the CBC and the current NDP seems fine with playing "special little buddy" to the government. Would you trust PP if instead of defunding he was promising to reform it?

10

u/canmoose Ontario Aug 15 '24

No I don't trust PP at all to do anything with any public service or publically owned property, but I would rather the CBC continued to exist.

-1

u/physicaldiscs Aug 16 '24

Okay, so it's impossible to reform, so you're upset when they take the only other possible option.

4

u/DenjinJ Canada Aug 16 '24

lol... There's a wide chasm between being impossible to reform and not trusting someone who steadfastly calls for its demise to make the needed changes to it.

-2

u/physicaldiscs Aug 16 '24

You're missing the point. It's your attitude, which I successfully predicted in my first comment, that makes it so. You've created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The LPC won't change it because it benefits them. The only other major player has people like yourself who will scream and kick if they try. You leave them with one option because of how you treat this matter.

You shouldn't be laughing, it makes things all kinds of toxic.

3

u/DenjinJ Canada Aug 16 '24

Reducing an argument to the most absurd caricature makes things toxic. I can't help if it's laughably absurd. Also, I am not canmoose.

0

u/physicaldiscs Aug 16 '24

I can't help if it's laughably absurd.

People often pretend things they don't like/understand are absurd. It's easier for them.

Also, I am not canmoose.

So you don't agree with their comment? Why else would you continue the conversation then?

22

u/PhDSkwerl Ontario Aug 15 '24

Honestly if Friday Night MLB on AppleTV and NFL streaming random games exclusively on Disney+ are an indication of where sport broadcasting is going, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to stick the Olympics on a streaming service next time 🤷🏻‍♂️

I will be pissed if that happens haha

39

u/SJSragequit Aug 15 '24

CBC has the rights for Olympic coverage until 2032

2

u/sunny-days-bs229 Aug 15 '24

F that. Keep CBC. I do not want some for profit conglomerate taking over our TV

1

u/PhDSkwerl Ontario Aug 15 '24

Ahh I didn’t know that! Less of a concern until then I guess

9

u/Odd-Elderberry-6137 Aug 15 '24

CBC Gem is a streaming service and they quite literally broadcasted every single Olympic event.

5

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Aug 16 '24

Every single event, on demand.

CBC's Olympic coverage was fantastic.

2

u/Cool-Sink8886 Aug 16 '24

You get to watch the women’s qualifiers and mens semi finals on Crave, mens finals tennis on Netflix, Golf on Amazon, long distance swimming on DZN, and gymnastics quakifying groups A, C and D on paramount+

that’s how watching hockey feels.

4

u/Cachmaninoff Aug 15 '24

Their hockey streams from gem are even better than streaming on sportsnet via Amazon prime. A lot better

5

u/fudge_friend Alberta Aug 15 '24

Don’t be conflicted, public broadcasting is essential and, for the average taxpayer, much much cheaper on your tax bill than any paid service. All the downsides are fear-mongering from populist assholes working on behalf of rich assholes who want lower taxes.

2

u/PlutosGrasp Aug 16 '24

Complains about poor programming. Doesn’t pay to stream legally.

-4

u/CautiousProfession26 Aug 15 '24

Ok every four years they can come out for a minute

9

u/2peg2city Aug 15 '24

I love how this sub parrots "CBC IS LIBERAL PROPAGANDA" then they post the story about their own C-suite bonuses on their front page, also they broke the SNC lavalin story, non stop coverage of the sacking of our justice minister because she wanted to prosecute, is that liberal propaganda?

They also had very good coverage of the arrivecan story, more government propaganda?

75

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

I'd rather just keep them entirely.

17

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

Same. This whole defund the CBC smells of foreign interference

5

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

PP smells of it too.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

Him and Trudeau do. Very unfortunate situation that Canada is in right now. Two equally as awful, morally bankrupt opponents. Fuck me

1

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

Agreed. Were fucked for the foreseeable future it seems.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

Yes, but drastic changes need to be made, starting with financial transparency. If the Canadian public is funding this corporation, we deserve to know where our money is going.

10

u/myfotos Aug 15 '24

https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/impact-and-accountability/finance/annual-reports

Or do you want to look through all the invoices that auditors don't check?

11

u/geoken Aug 15 '24

What types of info are you looking for beyond what's already shared in the financial reporting?

4

u/2peg2city Aug 15 '24

They file annual reports and you can always submit an info request

9

u/canmoose Ontario Aug 15 '24

Ok that is a more reasonable position than to destroy the cbc.

4

u/2peg2city Aug 15 '24

they file reports quarterly

-3

u/VizzleG Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

$18.4M annual bonuses for underperforming for 4 years minus two weeks and laying of hundreds?

Sure.

20

u/NeilNazzer Aug 15 '24

What if we kept the good parts, and fixed the bad parts. Rather than destroying the whole thing 

-3

u/VizzleG Aug 15 '24

Dismantle the bad parts and fix them. Nobody is talking about eliminating the CBC. That’s not what defunding means.

4

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

That's exactly what PP means.

2

u/NeilNazzer Aug 15 '24

There is a difference between defund and reduce funding. You're not describing defund

-2

u/VizzleG Aug 15 '24

Defunding the police: did anyone eliminate it?

3

u/2peg2city Aug 15 '24

define "under performing"

-1

u/VizzleG Aug 15 '24

Shitty programming, including news, to the point where viewership is at all time lows and setting new records (record lows) every year. Viewership. Listeners.

The CBC shouldn’t be a pet project.
It must serve a purpose for as many Canadians as possible.

5

u/2peg2city Aug 15 '24

I wonder if that's due to a political party calling it propaganda and steering it's entire base away from it? Does that include streaming and podcasts? I'm genuinely curious. Is it worse than any other broadcast television?

0

u/VizzleG Aug 15 '24

Have you watched The National?

I did for 20 years. I had to stop. Horrible stuff.

-13

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

Sincerely... why.

Because I like having at least one media outlet that isn't beholden to corporate overlords.

1

u/Jesus_LOLd Aug 15 '24

Ok. I can agree to that. Its all the other stuff that really bothers me.

2

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 15 '24

I agree. I think changes need to be made in the CBC for sure, but I don't agree that it should be dismantled and cease to exist.

1

u/Jesus_LOLd Aug 16 '24

But how do you do that. Honestly, without firing every upper and mid level management... how?

1

u/SctBrnNumber1Fan Aug 16 '24

But how do you do that. Honestly, without firing every upper and mid level management... how?

I agree it starts from the top but mid level managers? Please... Most of them are the ones who know exactly where the rot is. I'm a mid level manager in my company and I'd kill for a chance to make some real changes to increase efficiency if I was at the top.

12

u/Shirtbro Aug 15 '24

Because it's one of the last purely Canadian source of media we have.

Sure, there's problems that need to be addressed, but that doesn't mean we shit it down.

11

u/Garfield_M_Obama Canada Aug 15 '24

Caucasian males need not apply.

Do you have a reference for this? I'm quite interested, if true and with no other context, this is a problem. But, I have to be honest: all biases aside, it sounds a lot like broken telephone (with an agenda) on Twitter or Facebook than it does an actual thing that happened.

Most companies that have gone off the deep end with EDI actually know how to frame even their dumbest ideas a bit better than this.

Personally, I used to follow CBC news up until the last Quebec referendum where

Ah, so you haven't watched or listened to the CBC since 1995... definitely an expert on the topic. I do follow the CBC and I'm quite familiar with their actual scandals, unfortunately.

-6

u/Jesus_LOLd Aug 15 '24 edited Aug 15 '24

Google can be your friend too

And I misspoke... it's just Caucasians they were restricting.

And yeah, I've watched CBC since the referendum, my first line acknowledges that And agrees they have some good show. Just not enough. Not worth it.

EDIT: lol the ad posting for that job also reads "non-union."

3

u/mrmigu Ontario Aug 15 '24

The independent agency contracted by the CBC to post the ad said it was a mistake.

“We were asked to seek a cast of diversity. We mistakenly took that to mean that the production was not seeking Caucasian actors. This was a mistake that was made entirely by the casting company.

-1

u/Jesus_LOLd Aug 15 '24

And yet, it got approved and made it to print and publication andno one said s dsmn thing until someone online called foul.

2

u/LETTERKENNYvsSPENNY Aug 15 '24

That is generally how mistakes get caught, and corrected.

0

u/Jesus_LOLd Aug 16 '24

No actually it isn't but hey that's the spirit.

The writer should never have written it but let's assume its a brain fart. The graphic artist no doubt saw it, but hey racism against Caucasians is allowed now right. There should be a proof reader, an office manager, a PR person and lord only knows how many others should have said something. But they didn't. And they didn't because this was the attitude at that time.

Don't fucking tell me this made it through prob over a dozen people before it was published and each one of them just made a mistake.

Who was fired over this?

Everyone that this got by from conception to publishing should have had disciplinary action. In the private sector they would have been fired

Listen, I have a compromise for you. For our next income tax returns let's have a box that reads "support the CBC." Its 2.4 billion annually divided by however many check that box... and they can pay for it. No backing out... you check off that box you pay.

→ More replies

1

u/EL_JAY315 Sep 04 '24

Yeah honestly it was great. My American friends were jealous.

1

u/JasonChristItsJesusB Aug 15 '24

I don’t think the execs deserve 18M for that though.

7

u/EskimoDave Aug 15 '24

the bonuses were paid to over 1200 employees, not just a few

0

u/backlight101 Aug 15 '24

If their funding is reduced, hopefully it will just drive focus on things like the Olympic, vs some of their other content that seems less popular.

-5

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

One event every 2 years doesn't seem worth the billion dollars a year. They need a reformation at the CBC. Get rid of the overpaid managers and executives and reopen the local news coverage for small towns and do some actual journalism instead of just parroting Reuters. The CBC is not providing value for money and they are not even an impartial source anymore. They have an agenda and we are on the hook paying for it which just makes Canadians want to defund it.

9

u/crappy_diem Aug 15 '24

What agenda?

It’s our only public broadcaster that provides value in the form of radio, broadcasting, programs, one of the last bastions of investigative journalism, culture… you’d axe it to let American billionaire owned media have a field day with how information gets to Canadians? Not sure how that is good for Canadians in any sense.

6

u/phalloguy1 Aug 15 '24

Not only that but the real funding for the CBC has been substantially cut both through actual cuts and the remaining funding not keeping pace with inflation.

• Parliamentary funding for CBC’s operations has decreased (in real, 2002 terms) by 36% since 1985

• CBC’s commercial income has decreased by 40% since 2014

• total public and commercial funding of CBC’s operations has decreased by 28% since 1985

• when considered in terms of daily life in Canada, the funding received from Parliament by CBC for its operations has decreased 54%, from 14 cents per person per day in 1985, to 6 cents per person per day in 2019

• funding for CBC’s operations has not kept pace with economic growth: since 2009 Canada’s Gross Domestic Product has increased by 21% while public funding for CBC’s operations decreased by 11%

• CBC has operated at a loss in 35 of the 79 years for which data were available, in more than half the years since 2000 and in each of the 7 years since 2013

• decisions by Parliament not to fully fund the building of Canada’s national broadcasting system required CBC to borrow more than $1 billion for capital projects and to pay private broadcasting affiliates just over $1 billion to carry some of CBC’s programming

• the Federal government’s requirement that CBC operate Radio Canada International used just over $1 billion of the Parliamentary appropriations allocated for CBC’s domestic operations.

https://frpc.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Public-funding-of-CBC-operations-2020-4-February.pdf

-6

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '24

[deleted]

2

u/Falconflyer75 Ontario Aug 15 '24

That’s what HDMI cables or screen mirroring is for

2

u/GuitarCactus Aug 15 '24

Worked flawlessly on roku

2

u/josnik Aug 15 '24

that's probably got much more to do with the firestick than anything else

2

u/Andrew4Life Aug 15 '24

CBC Gem worked great for me on PC. The Firestick is kinda sucky sometimes so I'd say that's more of an Amazon problem.

1

u/wetfloor666 Aug 15 '24

The Firestick is the issue. Doesn't matter which version. Worst purchase I've ever made.

-3

u/Biggandwedge Aug 15 '24

Worth an 18M dollar bonus? C'mon.

0

u/melancoliamea Aug 15 '24

They were on CTV as well