If elected prime minister, Pierre Poilievre will, among other things, shrink CBC/Radio-Canada. But what does Jean Charest intend to do?
If he doesn’t change his mind — which seems unlikely, Poilievre having strong opinions — the CBC will not survive his election. This bullshit of politics does not see the point of investing a billion a year in a television whose meager listening is around 5%. CBC radio is more esteemed, but Poilievre has yet to say he’ll fare better.
Raised in a Francophone family in Saskatchewan, the candidate knows the vital importance of Radio-Canada for Francophones outside Quebec. Without the CBC, the French language would probably have already disappeared in the provinces with a strong Anglophone majority. It is surely not out of expediency that Poilievre intends to preserve the SRC, because it will not earn him any more votes. It is undoubtedly out of attachment to the language of his childhood. For the moment, he seems to have no problem with Ottawa continuing to fund a French radio and television network, while abandoning the English alter ego.
A BIG SNAKE
I’m not sure most Tory MPs, especially those in the West, will easily swallow a snake this size. Not only would maintaining the French networks of Radio-Canada cost more than half a billion in public money, but it is above all Quebeckers who would benefit from it. Unless — which is the most realistic assumption — Poilievre keeps only RDI and a number of French-language and Indigenous radio stations.
In the hope of winning the leadership race, Jean Charest has already endorsed several conservative points of view, even those he denounced when he was premier of Quebec. If we are to trust the figures reported by the party, there are approximately 600,000 people eligible to vote for the leadership. In order for all these voters to be able to make an informed choice, it is high time that the candidates make known their intentions with regard to CBC/Radio-Canada, that they reveal their plans in terms of culture and that they announce their future vision on the internet. So far, the candidates have been rather discreet about it.
THE AFTERTASTE OF THE HARPER YEARS
That they reveal themselves is all the more important since the Harper years have left a bitter aftertaste in the world of arts and culture. Poilievre’s remarks on Radio-Canada, his silence and that of the other candidates on arts and culture bode well. Even more disturbing is the Conservative Party’s ongoing aggressive war against any regulation of live gamers (streamers) and any contribution from the internet giants, which monopolize 75% of all digital advertising in the country.
At present, it is by the crutch of tax credits that we support our media as best we can. It is still through tax credits, through a mandatory contribution from cable operators like Videotron, Bell and their ilk, through non-reimbursable investments and outright subsidies that our independent television producers and many young digital businesses.
While citizens and our businesses are being punctured, the Internet giants are scraping off huge advertising revenues and live players are pocketing billions every year without any consideration and, ultimately, without taxes.
