Marissal : CBC in the political stew-pot and its tendacious history with Ottawa
Dan Say
http://www.cyberpresse.
ca/opinions/chroniqueurs/vincent-marissal/200903/28/01-841187-radio-canada-dan
s-la-marmite-politique.php
Reception > Opinions > Chroniclers > Vincent Marissal > Radio-Canada in the
political pot
Publié le 28 mars 2009 à 10h52 | Mis à jour à 10h53
Radio-Canada in the political pot
With empty half, half full
The comfort of the opposition
The canary in the mine
Liberals in remission
Vincent Marissal La Presse (Montreal, Qc)
From time immemorial, the relations between Radio-Canada and the federal
political circle were, say-the politely, tended.
My colleague Nathalie Petrowski pointed out, in her chronicle of yesterday,
that the liberal government of Jean Chrétien has amputee severely the budget
of the company of State there is nearly 10 years. The former Prime Minister,
slinger, had even marked that the disappearance of Radio-Canada would not be a
large loss for the Canadians.
At the time more remote of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the liberals pourfendaient
Radio-Canada, this “nest of séparatisses”, and dreamed to put order in this
subversive box.
Notice, the dimension of love of the public diffuser is not higher among
souverainists, who regularly show it to be the media arm of the great
federalistic plot. Plot of which I form part besides, according to certain
exaltés souverainists, since I am regularly invited to comment on the
topicality in Radio-Canada in my capacity as agent of the federalism to the
pay of Power Corp. Subtle, be-EC not?
Radio-Canada, from time immemorial, was always taken between two fires in
Quebec. In addition, the institution is regularly threatened by a movement,
largely composed of conservatives of the West, which preaches its pure and
simple privatization.
Not obvious, for a public diffuser, to have to negotiate the rules of its
existence (of which its budgets and its mandate) with a government which it
must also cover, and thus to criticize and denounce on the occasion.
Inevitably, the bad feelings (bad blood, says the english-speaking) re-appear
sometimes.
One has insisted much for a few days, with reason, on the ideological will of
the conservatives to starve Radio-Canada. Can-it, in addition to these
political decisions, that the relations rotted between the office of the Prime
Minister and Radio-Canada (I speak here about the French service of the news)
as contributed to the couldn't-give-a-damn attitude as the Harper government
posted in front of the calls using the diffuser?
Unquestionable thing, these relations are indeed rotted. They were never very
cordial, but they frankly worsened since the re-election of the conservatives,
last October.
Since a few months, Dimitri Welded, press attaché Stephen Harper and special
adviser for Quebec, has piqué some angers with the colleagues of the office of
Ottawa of Radio-Canada, dissatisfied which it was certain reports. It sent
courroucés emails, it insisted at least twice to meet the direction of
information in Montreal in order to express its dissatisfaction and even
refused that its owner grants an interview to Céline Galipeau, last month, at
the time of the visit of Barack Obama.
The chief of antenna of Radio-Canada finally obtained the interview this week,
a gesture of appeasing of the office of the Prime Minister who does not erase
however the fixings of the last months.
Also let us recall that the office of the Prime Minister suspected, last year,
a journalist of CBC to have provided questions to the liberal opposition at
the time of the audiences of a committee of the communes about the
Mulroney-Schreiber business. The business had made great noise on the
parliamentary hill and with CBC.
Be-EC to say that Radio-Canada/CBC is victim of a settling of score today? Let
us say only that nobody with the government will pour tears on the sad fate of
the diffuser, especially not on the fate of the journalists who will lose soon
their job.
This passivity of the conservative government towards the public diffuser
should not surprise anybody besides.
There are nearly 20 years, in 1991, in the Mulroney era, the conservatives
rénis in congress had voted for the privatization of Radio-Canada.
A few years later, Preston Manning, chief of Reform Party and intellectual
guide of the wing Canadian ultraconservatrice, had promised to dismantle the
SRC if it seized the power.
Its successor with the head of the right-hand side, Stockwell Day, then chief
of Canadian Alliance, had declared, in 2000, qu ' it would sabre in the
“useless” expenditure by privatisant Radio-Canada, in particular. It was even
registered black on white in the political program of Canadian Alliance.
More recently, in the era To grip, the ex-minister of the Inheritance, BEV
Oda, had promised, two years ago, a great consultation to re-examine the
mandate of Radio-Canada, but this project had died for lack of interest of the
government. In other words: no time to lose with Radio-Canada.
Lastly, another sign of imminent misfortunes, the Minister for the
Inheritance, James Moore, openly suggested last month, before a committee of
the Communes, that Radio-Canada will not have perhaps the choice to sell
publicity with the radio to survive.
The idea is simple: to starve Radio-Canada to oblige it to turn itself towards
the advertizing, which would make it possible Ottawa to still reduce its
financing, and so on. It is less Draconian than the solution advanced by
Stockwell Day or Preston Manning, but the result, in the long term, is the
same one.
At the same moment, the government Harper caress the idea to help of the
diffusers deprived like CanWest, CTVglobemedia and Quebecor, which confirms
its party taken for the private one.
The direction of Radio-Canada, its craftsmen and the defenders of the public
diffuser can thank the god for the elections for having given them a minority
conservative government last October. Majority, the conservatives would have
turned off the tap much more quickly.
Obviously, the parties of the opposition attacked the government this week
after the advertisement of the suppression of some 800 employment.
A question, however: how fact-it that liberals, bloquists and néo-democrats,
who have the numerical advantage with the Communes, did not react earlier,
before the adoption of the budget for example, to force the hand with the
government?
One has known for at least three months that Radio-Canada is on the tightrope,
but the answers obtained yesterday of the three parties let believe that they
did not see coming the crisis.
The large shoes of the opposition do much noise, but that is not used for
large-thing when the cavalry arrives after the battle.