CBC’s failure to live up to its mandate, with no ability for regulators to hold the state broadcaster accountable, is “a scam,” according to Liberal-appointed Senator Percy Downe.
Downe dug into CBC over its decision to temporarily cancel newscasts in 13 local markets during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A story of this magnitude — one that changes by the hour — places incredible demands on our staff and our infrastructure in order to get the most accurate and up-to-date information to audiences,” CBC said in a March 18, 2020, news editor’s blog.
“Television is especially resource-intensive, and many jobs are difficult to do at home. Our systems are overtaxed, and we had to make adjustments as a result. So, we made the difficult decision to temporarily lessen that load and consolidate production to ensure we can continue providing an essential service to Canadians.”
This decision left Prince Edward Island, which Senator Downe represents, without any local newscasts.
“No private sector TV station in Canada made a similar decision,” he said, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter. “It was only the CBC, publicly funded by the taxpayers of Canada including taxpayers in Prince Edward Island, who were affected by this decision.”
The shutdown breached CBC’s broadcasting licence with the temporary suspension of local newscasts, which lasted from March 18, 2020, through June 15. Despite this, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it wouldn’t revoke CBC’s licence — regardless of any breach of rules.
“It’s a complete charade,” Downe said during a Senate transport and communications committee. “That was in direct violation of their broadcasting license,” Downe said yesterday. “The CRTC had set conditions. They had minimum hours of local programming and had to have public consultation if they were changing the number of hours on-air. None of that happened.”
A CRTC executive Scott Shortliffe confirmed Senator Downe’s concerns, noting that regulators “could impose an administrative monetary penalty” on the network, but noted it was a “complex” matter which would require “a public hearing and make a report to the Minister of Canadian Heritage who would have to lay it before Parliament for 15 days. But we do have those tools.”
“I am shocked this is allowed to continue,” said the P.E.I. senator. “This is really a scam, in my opinion, where the CRTC takes no action. The CBC is in violation of its licence, the CRTC takes no action, and they go through this charade.”
When Senator Downe asked if CBC had ever been fined by the CRTC, Shortcliffe said it had not.
Senate transport and communications committee chair Senator Leo Housakos, a Conservative appointee, also lambasted the network.
“We have laws, we have regulations, and we’re not applying them,” Housakos said. Regulators are hopeful “the CBC has learned from what happened and can do better,” responded Shortliffe.
