At a time when local journalism is being pushed to the brink, it is strange that a Canadian politician would advocate gutting the country’s most important source of news. But that is exactly what Andrew Scheer did in his bid to become the leader of the Conservative Party.
Mr. Scheer and his team’s enthusiastic hostility toward public broadcasting is fueled by the opinions of the Conservative Party ‘base’ from whom they have been soliciting support. This is a small but vocal minority whose views about the CBC are extreme and far outside the mainstream of Canadians who support and value the CBC.
New public opinion research shows that calling for the dismantling of CBC News is a no-win situation for the Conservatives.
Now is the time to stand up for the CBC and to demonstrate that Canadians understand the importance of public broadcasting for our democracy.
