Time for the CBC to leave the nest

Time for the CBC to leave the nest

The verdict is in: after 75 years of government handouts to the CBC, Canadians want to take the training wheels off, and let the state broadcaster fend for itself without its $1.1-billion annual cheque from taxpayers.

That's the word from a major new public opinion survey conducted by Abacus Data Inc. Funny enough, the hundreds of polls paid for by the CBC never asked those questions - or if they did, the results were never made public.

Abacus asked 1,003 Canadians to give their views about the best way to finance the CBC. Fifty-three per cent of Canadians said it should continue as a non-profit organization - it should sell ads if it can, and make the rest up through contributions from viewers. That's similar to the PBS model in the United States, a public broadcaster that has regular telethons where people who like their brand of programming (and politics) can prove it by cutting a cheque.

It's sensible - which is why 53% of Canadians want it. But it would mean a lot more work for the CBC, since they'd have to listen to what their viewers want, and they'd still have to live within their means if they wanted to convince grassroots Canadians to chip in $50 or $100 in donations. No more limousine rides and first-class travel.

A sizeable minority of Canadians don't even want the non-profit model - 39% of Canadians want to privatize the CBC altogether, as opposed to keeping it as a Crown corporation. That's the model that Canada has taken with national businesses in the past, like Petro-Canada and Air Canada, both of which used to be owned by the government. Not only did the government make money from their sale, but they now pay taxes, too - unlike the CBC today.

Not surprisingly, there are regional differences to this sentiment. Canadians in the Prairies have long felt that the CBC had a hostility to that part of the country, and their values. Fifty-four per cent of them want to sell of the CBC altogether. Frankly, the feeling is probably mutual: a lot of CBC executives probably would like to get rid of the Prairies, too.

These findings are striking, given the dominance that the CBC has in Canadian media - it is by far the biggest broadcaster, dominating the landscape. So it is remarkable that, despite 75 years of propaganda, such a large percentage of Canadians are CBC dissidents - they want it either trimmed back or sold altogether.

Any discussions about reducing the funding of the CBC are met with a campaign-style attack on whoever suggested the idea, first from the CBC itself, and second from its labour unions and PR shills, like the so-called Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Even the Conservative government has been terrified of touching the CBC's budget - instead, they've gorged it year after year, taking their grant to record levels.

Perhaps this poll will put some steel in the spine of those cabinet ministers who think the idea of a state broadcaster is a holdover from an earlier age of big government.

One thing's for sure, though: the consensus groupthink in Canadian media - everyone agreeing how wonderful the CBC is - is not shared by grassroots Canadians.

The Abacus poll proves it. Now it's up to the government to act on it.

EZRA LEVANT, QMI AGENCY