CBC should be sold - Canadian Centre for Policy Studies

The CBC is a money-losing state broadcaster that should be stripped of $1.16 billion in public handouts, says a new report.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Studies argues the broadcaster fails to deliver true dollar value to taxpayers, and it lacks neutrality in its news reporting and accountability.

“The CBC is a world-class broadcaster,” says the report written by David Krayden. “It is for that very reason that we believe that the CBC can survive without a yearly infusion of unearned income.”

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Why did the CBC say this was secret information?

The CBC has released a list of how many vehicles it owns - years after telling taxpayers the information was secret. 

The broadcaster controls a fleet of 728 vehicles, documents show.

That's a far cry from the lone Ford sedan it said it owned in redacted documents released two years ago that hid behind Section 68.1 of federal access laws.

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Cut the CBC - Letter to the Editor

The organization known as "Friends of Canadian Broadcasting" has descended to a new low in its effort to demonize Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Their "Free the CBC" advertising campaign is particularly distasteful in its portrayal of the PM as a Tony Soprano-like character who consigns opponents to the trunk of a car and the tender mercies of a pair of thugs.

I'm not of Italian decent but the stereotyping evident in this video is disturbing .

I support the government's efforts to control spending on its employees wages and benefits, and that includes the wages and benefits enjoyed by employees of crown corporations, including the CBC.

Read the letter here.

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Justin Trudeau gaffe - CBC mop up

There are two parts to a Justin Trudeau story.

The first part is the gaffe.

For example, two weeks ago Trudeau proposed a carbon tax.

That’s a shockingly bad policy. And announcing it at Calgary’s Petroleum Club made it clear, the tax wouldn’t be shared equally by Canadians. It would be an Alberta-centric tax, Liberal-style.

That was the gaffe. So then the Media Party did a mop up.

But part two of any Trudeau gaffe is the Media Party’s clean-up of it. Other than the National Post and Sun Media, Trudeau’s announcement was buried by the Media Party.

Trudeau says something that shows how poor his judgment is, how inexperienced he is, how clueless he is. And the Media Party ignores it – or goes to his rescue.

Call it a preview of the 2015 election campaign.

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A CBC less fluffy and more feisty

Some would say CBC-TV should be left alone to get on with the grim business of laying off staff and cancelling some shows. Others would say the situation offers an opportunity to breathe new life into the broadcaster.

“Our job is to adjust, take this in, and move on,” CBC president Hubert Lacroix said recently to journalists. And he’s right. Move on, move forward. A smaller, stronger CBC must be the goal. A CBC less fluffy and more feisty.

What the CBC needs is an emphatic style of its own. Not the CBC News Network as it is now, with its endless repetition of gee-whiz footage of a fire on a California highway.

If there is less money for news coverage, then what can be covered better with fewer resources? Don’t, for heaven’s sake, strike a committee to study the question and bring in outside consultants.

But if it is to thrive, it needs to find its style. And style doesn’t cost money. Just as money doesn’t buy taste.

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CBC - A Tale of Two Expense Scandals

CBC on the Senate scandal

Headline - Senate expense scandal: The Harper brand of politics

It’s the fault of the trio of senators he appointed who misused taxpayers’ money by claiming expenses they weren’t entitled to, he said, the same senators who must now be suspended without pay.

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CBC on CBC Executive expense scandal

Headline - CBC defends itself against report on expenses

Canada's public broadcaster says it takes the management of taxpayers' money "very seriously" and a recent report of overspending by one of its executives is largely a distortion of the truth by some of the CBC's competitors.

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Maybe a moral of this story?  People living in glass houses shouldn't be throwing rocks!

CBC doesn't know what they're talking about

Paul MacLean says Hockey Night in Canada is out to lunch. At least when it comes to its criticism of Bobby Ryan.

The Senators' high-profile signing was the subject of some negative comments Saturday night about his skating when the Sens took on the Leafs in the nationally telecast game.

"I'm fine with his skating," said MacLean. "I don't think the picture of him has a dimension of speed, no, that's not his dimension. But he skates more than fine to play in the NHL."

MacLean scoffed at the idea Ryan is out of shape.

"Whoever CBC is, or whoever they are, don't know what they're talking about. His conditioning level is fine."

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CBC rushing to where others fear to tread

The CBC refused Wednesday to say how big a slice of its $1.2-billion taxpayer handout it's spending to broadcast the 2014 Winter and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

The decision to award the Canadian rights to the CBC raises questions about how level the playing field is between the taxpayer-funded broadcaster and private broadcasters.

"It's not a level playing field because the CBC gets more than a billion of taxpayer dollars while everyone else has to make it on their own," Greg Thomas, director of the Canadian Taxpayer Federation, told QMI Agency.

"We're seeing the CBC rushing to where others fear to tread. The Olympics have been a super disappointment as far as the ad revenue broadcasters are able to charge. Other broadcasters have had to back down because it's such a money loser."

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CBC Exposed is a book like no other - and today it's FREE!

CBC Exposed is a book like no other. This book takes on the holy grail of the Canadian media landscape and lays bare the truth about CBC. Reckless reporting at the state broadcaster has ruined lives and cost taxpayers millions upon millions in settlement costs yet no one has ever been held to account.

This book does what the consensus media cowards are afraid to do, tell the truth about CBC. From reporting driven by vendettas to outright biases against conservatives, gun owners, Israel and any other group that doesn’t fit their vision of Canada, CBC Exposed is a call to action to rein in this broadcasting giant. Once you read this book you too will be convinced that the only way to tame the beast is to sell it.

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CBC’s Atonement Falls Short After Maligning the Israel Defense Forces

On the October 20 broadcast of the CBC Radio program “The Sunday Edition”, host Michael Enright interviewed Dana Golan, described by the CBC as “a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces” and “former executive director of the Israeli NGO, Breaking the Silence (BTS), which compiled the stories of disillusioned Israeli soldiers in a new book called Our Harsh Logic.” The close to 25-minute radio segment not only indicted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for almost everything under the sun, it contained numerous errors, it lacked necessary context, and it unfairly maligned the IDF.

At no time in the interview did the CBC include a live or pre-recorded statement/response from Israeli officials to rebut BTS’ criticisms. The IDF were presumed guilty in the court of public opinion and the CBC was its judge, jury and executioner.

The resultant effect of the CBC’s errors and unfairness in the production of this interview, along with its failure to adequately atone for its journalistic lapses has led to the demonization of Israel’s armed forces. For which, no remedy is sufficient.

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Misconception was manufactured by the CBC

It’s been a battle between two giant Canadian institutional forces. In one corner the CBC and the labour left. In the opposing corner, RBC and the Canadian banking industry.

This a story bubble blown up by the CBC out of the mistaken impressions of one worker about RBC’s outsourcing program. That employee’s misconception was manufactured by the CBC into a temporary foreign workers scandal.

Their story–impossible to follow logically– was bolstered by a hyperventilating lawyer.

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CBC eventually lost the lawsuit and spent close to $900,000 on lawyers from an outside firm

In addition to having 22 lawyers on staff, CBC also has three paralegals. Rather than using lawyers already on the payroll, CBC dinged taxpayers more by securing the services of Guy Pratte, one of the top lawyers in Canada.

Despite having 22 lawyers on staff, CBC spent close to $900,000 on top-flight lawyers from an outside firm to fight a lawsuit that could have been settled with an apology.

CBC eventually lost the lawsuit and paid the filmmakers $200,000 in damages, which drove the total cost well over $1 million.

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Selling CBC would be a bold step but the right one

In 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney did what many considered impossible and privatized Air Canada over the objections of those who thought the government needed to own an airline.

As a frequent flyer of many airlines, I can tell you that Air Canada is a much better airline today.

The same can be said of Petro-Canada, which was sold beginning in 1990.  The organization learned to operate more efficiently and satisfy customers.

That was a privatization that was started by Mulroney but finally completed by the Liberal government of Paul Martin in 2004.

If Liberals and old Red Tories like Brian Mulroney can privatize government businesses, why can’t Stephen Harper?

There really is no reason for the government to own a broadcaster in the 500-channel universe.

There are plenty of Canadian broadcasters telling Canadian stories. In fact, with the digital revolution, Canadians have become major content creators.

An analysis done by Google last year showed that more Canadian content has been uploaded to YouTube since it was launched in 2005 than has been created by CBC and CTV since the 1950s.

The government doesn’t need to own a broadcaster to make sure Canadian stories are told. Canadians will do that on their own.

For those still worried about not having Canadian sitcoms and dramas on TV, the government could take just a portion of CBC’s annual $1.1-billion annual subsidy and put it into a production fund that would go to producers.

That content would then be purchased by the private networks, CBC included.

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CBC begrudgingly releases records on overtime

It took CBC six years to respond to an access to information request on how the state broadcaster handles overtime payments.

After losing a court battle on what it could and could not withhold, CBC begrudgingly released the records on overtime.

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Longtime CBC staffer charged with voyeurism

A longtime CBC staffer, who works in an off-air role, is accused of voyeurism after a video surfaced online which shows naked images of a woman who rented a room in his downtown Toronto condo.

David Sealy, 56, was arrested Saturday and charged with voyeurism, mischief and defamatory libel.

He has been at CBC for nearly 33 years and employed most recently as an associate director in the sports division, working on a variety of programs such as Hockey Night In Canada, which includes Coach’s Corner.

Patel said more than 150 voyeuristic video clips of women were also allegedly discovered on a computer. 

According to Sealy’s Linkedin profile, he’s also a union representative on the health and safety committee.

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That’s not a poll. That’s a CBC-David Suzuki press release

According to a new survey, David Suzuki is the most admired Canadian.

That’s what a press release from respected pollster Angus Reid said.

Who did Canadians put on their list of most-admired people?

Well, that’s the thing. No one. The list of names weren’t chosen by Canadians. They were chosen by someone named Shachi Kurl.

She’s not a pollster. She’s a former journalist who went into PR. She came up with the list of names. And then she asked Canadians whether or not they liked the names on her list.

Canadians weren’t allowed to choose their own names. They had to choose from Shachi’s list.

Shachi chose three journalists. But all of them were from the CBC. Why not the great Lloyd Robertson of CTV? (I asked Shachi if the CBC paid for the survey, but she didn’t answer.)

Why no real heroes, non-political people, like Chris Hadfield, the astronaut? Why no sports heroes like Sidney Crosby or even Wayne Gretzky?

Let’s recap: A PR hack with no training as a pollster, chooses a personal list of friends and enemies. She calls it a survey of Canadians, but Canadians aren’t allowed to select their own names. They’re forced to choose from her list, that’s padded with obvious stinkers — that pushes people to choose her friends at the CBC or left-wing politicians.

That’s not a poll. That’s a CBC-David Suzuki press release.

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CBC is infamous for skirting ATI laws

Canada’s $1.1 billion state broadcaster is infamous for skirting ATI laws and doing the bare minimum to get by. Simple information, like how many vehicles the CBC owns or the salaries of star CBC personalities like David Suzuki or George Stroumboulopoulos, should be readily available for as long as the CBC remains a government-owned agency. They were given an ‘F’ grade by Commissioner Legault for incredibly poor response times, the second-worst for a federal department.

When they were asked how many vehicles they owned, they claimed one: a 2007 Ford 500. They were later embarrassed when a House of Commons committee revealed the CBC actually owned 728 vehicles. Updated ATI legislation should provide punitive measures for departments that outright lie in information releases, or abuse the process because they think the information released will be embarrassing.

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There is less Canadian programming on CBC TV today than 15 years ago

According to CRTC, ad revenue from the two main CBC TV services was some $338 million in 2010. CBC has revealed to the CRTC in the past that in the mid-1990’s the two main CBC TV networks generated roughly $350 million in annual ad revenue, meaning that CBC sales has not grown revenues in well over a decade, not even keeping up with inflation. Canadianizing the schedule cannot be blamed because, if anything, there is less Canadian programming on CBC TV today than 15 years ago.

 Private conventional TV, which has been subjected to the same audience fragmentation and other economic pressures in the past decade and a half, has grown ad revenue by almost 30%, an indicator that CBC sales is not tightly managed and perhaps the strongest indicator that CBC management lacks necessary controls over the organization and is ill-equipped to deal with the $115 million-plus budget cut.

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CBC TV employs almost 50% of all the persons working in Canadian TV broadcasting

CBC Staff Numbers:

• according to CRTC financial data, there were just under 9,600 full time employees at CBC for the year ending August 31, 2010, excluding staff working in unlicenced activities such as cbc.ca; CRTC data show in the years 2006 to 2008 total CBC staff was just over 10,000 people, meaning that there has been only a small reduction in CBC staff in recent years, despite the financial crisis in 2008-09. Preliminary data for the year ending August 31, 2011 show that the staff count was unchanged from the previous year. CBC claims that its resources have dwindled under both Liberal and Conservative governments, yet CRTC data show that the CBC has basically the same number of staff as it had in 1999. The average annual CBC salary in 2010 was just over $87,000, about $9,000 more than in the 2006-08 period 

•  CBC Radio had 2,500 employees in 2010, while all commercial radio stations employed just over 10,000 employees in that same year. In other words, CBC Radio employed roughly 20% of all persons working in Canadian radio. The number of people employed in private commercial radio has been basically unchanged in the past 5 years 

•  CBC TV had 6,200 employees in 2010, which represented about 50% of all the persons working in Canadian TV broadcasting. Commercial TV stations and networks (i.e., CTV, Global, CITY, TVA, V, etc.) had just under 6,300 employees that same year 

• one striking trend in the CRTC data is that commercial TV stations have reduced the number of persons they employ by approximately 2,000 in the past 5 years (find details on commercial TV at this link to the CRTC data). That is, private TV, facing a more competitive media landscape and a recession, reduced its staff by about 25%, while CBC seems to have maintained its staff numbers basically at pre-recession levels

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How much are taxpayers on the hook for when CBC reaches a settlement?

CBC loves to ask questions but the state broadcaster’s president Hubert Lacroix has shown once again that he hates taking them.

Lacroix was asked about a release of documents — some 1,454 pages — related to harassment and inappropriate behaviour in just two CBC offices in Ottawa and Toronto.

What is the nature of the complaints at CBC? Are we talking about inappropriate jokes or sexual harassment?

How much are taxpayers on the hook for when CBC reaches a settlement? That would tell us how serious these issues are.

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CBC stepped in with a higher bid against private companies

News that the CBC has won the radio and TV broadcasting rights for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, raises the question why a state broadcaster is bidding against private companies. 

So far, CBC brass won’t say how much they paid for the Olympic rights, but whatever the amount is, it comes from the taxpayer, not private enterprise.

Perhaps Rogers and Bell who won the rights for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and Beijing Games (for $150 million) didn’t want the rights, since they lost money.

 But the word is that their $70-million bid for 2014 and 2016 was lower than IOC extortionists wanted, so the CBC stepped in with a higher bid — maybe as high as $150 million, but we don’t know.

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CBC has censored me way more than Fox has. Now that’s “scary.”

In some circles, he’s considered “The Godfather of hipsterdom”. In 1994, Gavin McInnes co-founded an infamously edgy Montreal alt-punk zine, which eventually grew into Vice Magazine – now a global brand (behemoth?) that still somehow manages to be a harbinger of "cool".

Canada has a lot of misconceptions about America. They see it as a “scary” (they always use that word) republican empire that is ruled by guns and religion. The real threat down here is the same as Canada, and that’s the politically correct word police. People are losing their jobs for saying something that someone else thought was offensive, even when it wasn’t. I think Red Eye does so well because it’s on at 3 a.m. and can get away with more shit. The CBC has censored me way more than Fox has. Now that’s “scary.”

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Health and dental benefits at CBC/Radio-Canad

If you work as a permanent employee of CBC or if you are contracted to work 13 weeks or longer, you are eligible for the full range of health benefits.   Supplementary Health Care: includes prescription drugs, hospital care, eye glasses, hearing aids, ambulance transportation and much more. In some cases the benefits “top up” provincial medicare plans. In others it provides coverage for items not covered under provincial plans.   Dental: 90% coverage for basic care (“drill and fill”), including fillings, extractions, cleaning, and inspection every nine-months. As well, there is 50% coverage for such things as major restorative (bridges and crowns) and orthodontia (braces). There are no employee-paid premiums   Short-Term and Long-Term Disability: covers wages lost by employees who become ill or disabled. Short-Term Disability (STD) is paid for by the CBC and covers the first 85 days of illness. Long Term Disability (LTD) covers all periods of longer than 85 days and can be in place until an employee retires or dies.   Supplementary health plan details Prescription drugs are covered 100% Semi-private hospital rooms and Outpatient Services are 100% covered and there is no deductible charges for these services. Read the full report. PS - this is your tax money.  Are YOUR benefits this good?

The cost of propping up the CBC pension plan

The federal government recently announced cuts to the CBC budget of $27.8 million this year increasing to $115 million by 2014-15. The CBC budget for 2011 was $1.1 billion.

These cuts, however, pale in comparison to the costs of propping up the CBC’s pension plan. How will it fund its current pension solvency deficit of $801 million (2010) up from $382 million the previous year?

In 2010, CBC employees contributed $26.9 million to their pensions, but $51.2 million was added by taxpayers. While the split is supposed to be 50/50, CBC has chosen to ask taxpayers to fund the deficit without asking employees to contribute more. To properly fund the pension solvency shortfall, the CBC, under normal accounting rules, would be required to fund an extra $160 million each year over the next five years.

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Selling CBC would save Canadian Families money

If Stephen Harper wants to leave his mark on Canada, I have some advice for him: Sell the CBC.

I say that not only would selling CBC save Canadian families money, it would be the kind of change Stephen Harper came to Ottawa to accomplish.

Selling CBC would be a bold step but the right one.

It would help taxpayers by removing the $1.1-billion subsidy and it would also take government out of a line of business it has no right to be in.

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Selling CBC would be a bold step but the right one

The PM and the rest of the MPs return to Ottawa next week for the start of a new session of Parliament and a new speech from the throne. We've heard plenty about how the government will focus on families and consumers with small pocketbook measures to make Canadians happy and lower our bills.

I say that not only would selling CBC save Canadian families money, it would be the kind of change Stephen Harper came to Ottawa to accomplish.

Selling CBC would be a bold step but the right one.

It would help taxpayers by removing the $1.1-billion subsidy and it would also take government out of a line of business it has no right to be in.

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An employee of the French CBC also worked for the NDP

An employee of the French CBC also worked for the NDP for more than six months in 2012 (from May to November).

Those of us who are familiar with the CBC’s left-leaning bias were not surprised, just disgusted.

It was only the latest on the long list of our Crown Corporation’s double standards in terms of political partisanship.

What is most disturbing with the CBC is that there seems to be an ethical code for their employees on the political left and another one for those on the right.

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