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I’ve always been a proponent of the CBC, even back in the days when I was a kid who didn’t have a VCR and audio-taped Wayne and Schuster episodes, listening to their well-worn shtick for endless hours.^[1] That I’ve divulged such an embarrassing piece of my childhood proves how much the CBC has meant to me as I blossomed into adulthood. The CBC has always been an instrument that links a vast nation-state and celebrates and promotes Canadian culture, especially when we’re inundated with American cultural influences. But lately the CBC has had an identity crisis, unsure how to promote its programming to Canadians and suffering major budget cuts imposed by the Conservative government. Some view the CBC has an elitist TV network that uses public monies to cater to a select few, while others see it as a complete waste of time and wish to dismantle it permanently. Oh to be sure, management at the Mother Corp haven’t helped their cause with their opponents, but I feel there are many ways the CBC can bring back its greatness and truly educate, inform and entertain the Canadian nation.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation first broadcast a television signal in September 1952 and has always tried to provide Canadians, from East to West, South to North, French and English, a voice within the national identity. As a public broadcaster it is a crown corporation, but autonomous from direct government involvement (though many crafty prime ministers have used the well-worn patronage card to appoint politically-friendly people to key management positions). It has continued to be a key player in promoting Canadian culture, ensuring our national distinctiveness from being enveloped by American culture.^[2] The CBC was originally modeled after the UK’s BBC and functions like most public broadcasters found around the world.^[3] According to the Broadcasting Act of 1991, the CBC’s mandate is to provide “prominently and distinctively Canadian [programming]…actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression…strive to be of equivalent quality in French and English…reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada.” How can any Canadian argue against such a mandate? Of course the CBC has often fumbled their mandate many times, so we as viewers are left to scratch our heads and flip to the next channel, ignoring our yearnings for national unity through TV.

Many detractors argue that as a publicly-funded broadcaster, the CBC should create and air programs that cater to all Canadians. It’s lovely in concept, but it’s difficult determining what Canadians want out of the CBC. In the past the CBC was heavily criticized for overemphasizing rural and regional programming, like the long-running Beachcombers, arctic melodrama North of 60 or quaint Maritime drama Black Harbour. It was felt that the CBC ignored urban Canadians, despite the fact that most Canadians live in urban centres and not in rural communities. But the Mother Corp did throw a few bones to the public: Degrassi Junior High (and later, Degrassi High) focused on urban Canadian teens and the issues they faced and The Kids in the Hall routinely satirized Canadian urban living. Of course for most of the 80s and 90s these shows were the exception, not the norm, as the CBC, clueless as always, tried to appeal to Canadians with such nonsense as Mom P.I. and Mosquito Lake, shows that were gloriously unhip and painfully low-budget TV productions. Instead of offering viewers challenging scripted shows, the network was churning out aged shows like the aforementioned Beachcombers and Tommy Hunter, programs that appealed only to seniors and alienated everybody else (If you haven’t heard of these programs, count yourself lucky. There’s a reason they’re not syndicated on Canadian specialty channels.). Viewers simply switched to private broadcaster CTV, which provided much American fare for the weary, frustrated Canadian couch potato.

Politically conservative governments have never been fond of the CBC; the idea of a publicly-funded broadcaster goes against their all-things-must-be privately-owned philosophy. The Progressive Conservative government, led by Brian Mulroney, slashed the CBC’s regional budgets in 1990, effectively ending individual CBC affiliates’ abilities to purchase non-primetime programming and produce local programs. Nearly every CBC affiliate in the country produced programs that highlighted regional culture, so it was damning blow to promoting cultural diversity and a part of the CBC’s original mandate. Except for news broadcasts, every locally-produced CBC program was cancelled because of the slashed budget. Even the Liberal Chretien government imposed several budget cuts on the CBC in the late 90s, making it harder for the public broadcaster to appeal to Canadians. With the latest budget cuts in 2009, the CBC has gone from a $1.4 billion budget in the late 90s to just $1 billion today, despite salary increases, inflation and rising production costs. Ad revenue is also down for every media outlet and the CBC is no exception. Faced with relevancy issues, public outrage at its $1 billion budget and dwindling viewership, the CBC needs strong leadership if it’s to survive and continue to service Canadians well into the 21st century. What’s needed is forward-thinking management, something the network currently doesn’t possess, people who can generate new ways to make do with less money, create programming that entices Canadians and win back the trust and respect of a government that clearly loathes it.

Next week: I examine CBC TV shows specifically and assess the dire state of its current programming.

1. This of course was many years before I caught on to the comic geniuses who created SCTV, The Kids in the Hall and the 70s incarnation of Saturday Night Live—all mostly Canadian. I was also fascinated because the late Johnny Wayne closely resembled Pete Rose, a once-celebrated baseball player/manager I liked who fell from grace because he bet on his own team’s games. I call it the Dino Ciccarelli Factor, a process in which many of my favourite athletes disappointed their fans (and me) by their embarrassing, often lewd, behaviour. The DCF is named after Dino Ciccarelli, my favourite Minnesota North Star hockey player who pleaded guilty to indecent exposure (his babysitter!) and was jailed and fined for nearly taking another player’s head off with a hockey stick during a game. Boy, can I pick ‘em! [↩]
2. Now I’m not here to criticize American culture—far from it—but as much as we like their cultural products, i.e. movies, TV and celebrities, we’re not American and we shouldn’t be overwhelmed by another country’s influences. “Canadians are Americans, except without guns,” Mark McKinney quipped in a Kids in the Hall sketch. Yes, we’re very similar, very friendly towards one another, but the simple fact is we’re not American and we should maintain the cultural products that help define us as Canadians. [↩]
3. I always love it when CBC detractors argue the broadcaster should be privatized because most countries, like the USA, don’t have a public broadcaster. In fact it’s the USA that’s one of the few countries in the world without a public broadcaster (PBS isn’t a public broadcaster). [↩]

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