Make the CBC President AccountableOct 4, 2005 Calgary – Robert Rabinovitch should be the last CBC President appointed by the Prime Minister, according to Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. In a speech today on how to fix the CBC, Friends' spokesperson Ian Morrison told the Calgary Rotary Club: "Accountable to no one other than the Prime Minister, Rabinovitch had a free hand to lock out CBC employees and deny service to Canadians," Morrison said. "Unlike other corporations, CBC's board cannot hire or fire its CEO. This goes a long way to explaining the lockout in my view, but it can easily be fixed by Parliament. Two years ago, the Commons Heritage Committee unanimously recommended a solution." The Lincoln Report of June 2004 was unanimously endorsed by MPs from all parties. It recommended that the CBC Board be chosen from among the best and brightest Canadians, selected at arms length from Prime Ministerial patronage. And they recommended that the Board have the power to hire and fire the President and CEO. "The patronage governance system has consequences for the effectiveness of CBC's management. These are the people who brought us the lockout and they've lost a lot of credibility as a result of their blundering. Yet there's no way to remove Rabinovitch and company without compromising the independence of the CBC as a public, rather than a state, broadcaster," Morrison said. Morrison also called on the federal government to provide CBC additional funding in the upcoming budget to build CBC local and regional programming and to make sure CBC provides service to Canadians no matter where they live. "People who live outside the Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto triangle are in a good position to judge the central-Canada bias of the CBC," Morrison said. CBC is becoming more and more like a Toronto Broadcasting Corp. And the lockout provided a looking glass or crystal ball view of the future of CBC if this trend continues. After 50 days of listening and viewing the "Toronto Broadcasting Corporation", Canadians are fed up. Morrison released new programming data which show that CBC TV has fallen below CRTC requirements for Canadian content. From March to May 2005, during prime time only 58% of programs broadcast on CBC TV were Canadian, down from 90% a year earlier. If CBC carried on for a full year with only 58% Canadian content, it would run afoul of basic CRTC regulations for any broadcaster. -30- For information: Jim Thompson Related DocumentsOctober 4, 2005 - Speech: Notes for Remarks by Ian Morrison to the Calgary Rotary Club, Fairmont Palliser Hotel, CalgaryFRIENDS spokesperson addresses need for CBC governance reform, increased funding of local and regional programming in aftermath of CBC lockout. |
Apr 30, 2012 — Michaëlle Jean is the People’s Pick for CBC ChairFRIENDS says the CBC belongs to all Canadians and its leadership positions should be open to the best and brightest citizens, not just those on the government’s patronage pay-off list Apr 26, 2012 — FRIENDS launch People’s Pick for CBC ChairFRIENDS says the antiquated practice of political patronage for appointing the CBC Board and President is in need of reform. Mar 29, 2012 — Vindictive cuts break CBC promise and target Canadian cultureThe federal budget singles out the CBC for vindictive cuts that break the Conservative’s election promise to maintain or increase funding to the national public broadcaster. Mar 23, 2012 — Nanos poll shows Canadians want CBC promise keptA new Nanos survey has found a majority of Canadians support or somewhat support the position staked out by Heritage Minister James Moore one day after the election that the Conservative government will maintain or increase CBC funding. Mar 16, 2012 — BCE acquisition of Astral raises concernsFRIENDS says BCE Inc.'s bid to purchase Astral Media, the largest media merger in Canadian history, raises concerns about market domination. Feb 13, 2012 — Poll finds Canadian media too important to allow foreign controlAccording to a new opinion survey, 77% of Canadians see domestic media companies as too important for cultural and security reasons to allow them to be controlled by foreign interests. Feb 1, 2012 — Hamilton residents want their own CBC stationA substantial majority of Hamilton area residents would like CBC to establish a local radio station to cover community affairs, and support the Conservative's pre-election pledge to maintain or increase CBC funding. Jan 31, 2012 — London residents want their own CBC stationA wide majority of London residents would like CBC to establish a local radio station to cover community affairs and most hope their MP would champion the new station or not oppose it. |
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