What to do with Radio Canada and the CBC?

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by casper

Here is BC we have a public broadcast service called Knowledge Network.
https://www.knowledge.ca/

In Ontario its TVO. Not certain about other provinces. I think in Saskatchewan it was disbanded a few years ago.

Knowledge network is very much what CBC could have been. Strong focus on documentaries telling stories. Commercial free kids programing. Some foreign content.

Perhaps like PBS in the US, CBC becomes the national co-op controlled by provincial public broadcasters. Maybe keep NewsWorld as its own thing.

Aside from BC and Ontario, there's also Télé-Québec.

Saskatchewan used to have SCN and Alberta had ACCESS. And in Atlantic Canada, ASN used to fill some of the educational broadcaster role, though it was always a commercial privately owned channel.

[ssiguy]

If the Northern areas/Territories want local programming then they can pay for it and create their own stations ala TVOntario. They could also partner with APTN. They would also have access to CBC Radio.

No local news or TV stations except 2 main stations, French in Montreal and English in Toronto but they too would not have local news except CBC Radio/ Radio Canada. This would be a huge burden taken off CBC's financial neck so they can put their resources into creating QUALITY Canadian content of all types. CBC can no longer be everything to everybody if it wants to remain relevant.

Contrary to his talk, PP is NOT going to be getting rid of the CBC/Radio Canada. It would be political suicide in Quebec & Ontario but he will reduce the funding and that's a reality CBC is going to have to get use to and that means getting the most bang for the buck.

[urbandreamer]

Isn't PP FN? He sure looks like a typical Prairie FN/Metis, so why would he destroy his own people's access to media/propaganda?

Most likely, CBC will get increased funding and waste most of it. Today, CBC has shows catering to black, SA and FN Canadians, but do they actually listen to the shows? My workmates get pissed off when I insist on listening to CBC Music.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

If the Northern areas/Territories want local programming then they can pay for it and create their own stations ala TVOntario. They could also partner with APTN. They would also have access to CBC Radio.

No local news or TV stations except 2 main stations, French in Montreal and English in Toronto but they too would not have local news except CBC Radio/ Radio Canada. This would be a huge burden taken off CBC's financial neck so they can put their resources into creating QUALITY Canadian content of all types. CBC can no longer be everything to everybody if it wants to remain relevant.

Contrary to his talk, PP is NOT going to be getting rid of the CBC/Radio Canada. It would be political suicide in Quebec & Ontario but he will reduce the funding and that's a reality CBC is going to have to get use to and that means getting the most bang for the buck.

The people of Nunavut are neglected enough by the rest of Canada. They still have zero land access to the territory, and have a federal government with zero initiative to help lower the cost of living in the region and improve its standard of living. Just look at what that asshole liberal MP said about our apparently more than sufficient road network.

Canada must assert sovereignty over its north or it will lose it, Russia is not our friend. Canada does this by having federal institutions in the region. Institutions like… the CBC. There should also be a larger military presence in the north, and I think the majority of new comers to Canada should be forced to locate there. The north must be developed, and so must access to its natural resources.

While APTN is a good option for indigenous programming, it is also a specialty cable channel, so if you can’t afford cable, or $200 a month for the internet, because that’s what Starlink costs, what the fuck are you gonna do, sit around a radio at night? People need access to at least one over the air channel.

Canada needs a national broadcaster, it’s something civilized nations do. Can you really not see the benefit of having qualified journalists at strategic locations around the country? Can you not see the benefit of having a news cast made up of contribution's from across the country? Connecting Canadians is what builds a nation. I feel alienated, as a manitoban, by this government and the citizens out east enough. No need to further that by having all news come out of Toronto.

[Acajack]

I honesty doubt that the Indigenous and Northern services of the CBC even represent an inordinate drain on the CBC's finances, relative to everything else that is a drain on them.

Especially not when you consider it relative to penetration of and impact on the target demographic.

''Big ticket'' CBC programming mostly targets the hip crowd in major urban centres, and this demographic tends to prefer US stuff massively and ignore the CBC.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Isn't PP FN? He sure looks like a typical Prairie FN/Metis, so why would he destroy his own people's access to media/propaganda?
.

I've never heard it mentioned that Pierre Poilievre is Indigenous in any way. (First Nations and Métis are not the same thing - AFAIK he is neither.)

He was adopted by parents who were of French origin and I believe his biological parents may also have been of French Canadian origin. Now, a lot of French Canadians have Indigenous admixture, but in most cases, including his, that's not even to make someone considered Indigenous.

[urbandreamer]

My indigenous BC relatives joke that PP is one of them, but is too scared to publicly admit to it. I know the difference between Metis and FN, my point is his biological parents are probably either half Anglo or French and half indigenous. He's certainly very secretive about his origins.

Wikipedia says "Pierre Marcel Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979,[5] in Calgary, Alberta, to a 16-year-old mother, who was of Irish-Canadian descent on her father's side.[3][6] Poilievre was adopted by two schoolteachers, Marlene and Donald Poilievre (who is French Canadian)[7] shortly after being born." Sure sounds like a typical Plains Indian. If he wins, he'll be the first PM younger than me, so now I understand how my father felt about these "kids."

[ssiguy]

I have put forward what I think the CBC should due to prepare itself for an even smaller budget that PP will bring forward. He will not cancel the CBC but will cut back on its funding which few would have a problem with when it comes to TV especially after the CBC Board continues to give themselves huge bonuses while they shed staff.

Regardless of whether you agree with my ideas, at least I am offering alternatives to the CBC and its impending funding cuts. So, what exactly would you guys do? It's easy to knock my ideas but quite another to offer your own alternatives. CBC funding is going to be cut. Full stop. So, what do you think the solution is to keep the CBC both financially viable while at the same time relevant?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Acajack

''Big ticket'' CBC programming mostly targets the hip crowd in major urban centres, and this demographic tends to prefer US stuff massively and ignore the CBC.

Brent Butt said something to the effect that we just want to make a show that people would like. I assume he meant that would be without insidiously preaching the tenets of social justice, intersectionality, et al.

I can't remember what TV guy said it but it was something to the effect of, if you hear the words hip and edgy, run yelling and screaming the other way.

[urbandreamer]

When Trump invades Canada, the CBC will turn into NABC: North American Broadcasting Corpse.

Up near Bancroft I saw a stupid PP sign that made me cringe: "Make Canada Great Again in 2025" ugh Canada is so lame.

Anyway, the CBC should return to its roots as a sort of BBC lite, representing the interests of English Canadians.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Regardless of whether you agree with my ideas, at least I am offering alternatives to the CBC and its impending funding cuts. So, what exactly would you guys do? It's easy to knock my ideas but quite another to offer your own alternatives. CBC funding is going to be cut. Full stop. So, what do you think the solution is to keep the CBC both financially viable while at the same time relevant?

Mansbridge said it in the interview I posted. Most people look to the CBC for news and current affairs.

Cuts can start with the activists pretending to be reporters, shouldn't be hard because the worst of them were the last in. Try in a small way to address the bias which has gotten progressively worse (pardon the expression)

If and when the cuts come, they have to pare down upper management, they can start with Krusty.

I would look at what kind of shows can be shot exclusively at the Broadcast Centre ie pared down variety or music shows like Rita MacNeil had, office programs like The Newsroom or The Office.

Get rid of the British imports, do people still watch Coronation Street, I used to for years but it looks like crap now,

See if you can get a big American import and build your own shows around it.

Get rid of anything to do with This Hour (they've had more than their share of run)

Go back to the vaults and remaster classic drama shows and repackage them with cool intros. I've heard they can't do that because of union payment issues. I don't know if it is true or not but like the Olympic Stadium just do it right and fix it, once and for all.

Just some thoughts to ponder, some may be reasonable some not.

[urbandreamer]

Now, I haven't watched CBC television since a brief period when I had a TV, roughly 1997-2003, so I'm out of touch. But I'd eliminate broadcast TV, sell the CBC hq, scale down their website and probably turn the GEM site into news, Canadian movies and HNIC. They need a 3-5 minute newscast for SM like YouTube, Tiktok, X etc, updated hourly. I don't think they need any podcasts other than an extended news/politics show, a sports show and perhaps some CanCon music. I'd recommend they run everything out of Ottawa, to avoid a Toronto centric bias.

I used to watch Peter Mansbridge, but after seeing him around Stratford, I realized he's an out of touch elitist.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

My indigenous BC relatives joke that PP is one of them, but is too scared to publicly admit to it. I know the difference between Metis and FN, my point is his biological parents are probably either half Anglo or French and half indigenous. He's certainly very secretive about his origins.

Wikipedia says "Pierre Marcel Poilievre was born on June 3, 1979,[5] in Calgary, Alberta, to a 16-year-old mother, who was of Irish-Canadian descent on her father's side.[3][6] Poilievre was adopted by two schoolteachers, Marlene and Donald Poilievre (who is French Canadian)[7] shortly after being born." Sure sounds like a typical Plains Indian. If he wins, he'll be the first PM younger than me, so now I understand how my father felt about these "kids."

In this day and age it would be a plus for Pierre Poilievre to have Indigenous background.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In this day and age it would be a plus for Pierre Poilievre to have Indigenous background.

Agree. I don't think his parentage is such a big secret (at least his birth mother). He named her and she was present at the nomination convention for Pierre, IIRC. He looks a lot more Native than a lot of people I knew growing up. I looked more native than some of them with the blonde hair and blue eyes.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In this day and age it would be a plus for Pierre Poilievre to have Indigenous background.

Originally Posted by elly63

Agree. I don't think his parentage is such a big secret (at least his birth mother). He named her and she was present at the nomination convention for Pierre, IIRC. He looks a lot more Native than a lot of people I knew growing up. I looked more native than some of them with the blonde hair and blue eyes.

it seems his biological background is Irish and German; as for being indigenous, taking Buffy Sainte-Marie as an example shows that Europeans can be similar in appearance but not be indigenous. It is however something that, if true, could be revealed during an election campaign to be used to ones advantage. OTOH, he has not actively claimed to be more gay because of his gay adoptive father.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Architype

it seems his biological background is Irish and German; as for being indigenous, taking Buffy Sainte-Marie as an example shows that Europeans can be similar in appearance but not be indigenous.

Race is significantly a social construct, but Buffy St Marie doesn't obviously look indigenous, she styles herself to look indigenous. If she styled herself like a Nona in Woodbridge I don't think anyone would think she looked indigenous.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Race is significantly a social construct, but Buffy St Marie doesn't obviously look indigenous, she styles herself to look indigenous. If she styled herself like a Nona in Woodbridge I don't think anyone would think she looked indigenous.

I am sure that experts can pick this stuff apart easily, but to the average uneducated layman, there are people from the European Mediterranean that superficially seem to have common facial traits to Indigenous peoples of the Americas. (At least, to what some Indigenous people here look like today.)

Similarly, it can happen that certain Latin Americans will get mistaken for South Asians by the average Joe Schmo.

[ssiguy]

How did a CBC thread turn into an anthropological discussion? Let's get back on topic guys.

[harls]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Let's get back on topic guys.

Yeah, let's turn the attention back to crotchety old man from BC.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

How did a CBC thread turn into an anthropological discussion? Let's get back on topic guys.

Thanks to the race obsessed former who turns every discussion into one about race and believes race is destiny.