Carney promises $150M in new funding for CBC, will continue to allow ads

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he plans to increase CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding by $150 million and enshrine its funding into law if the Liberals win the federal election. The Liberal party leader announced his plans for the public broadcaster while on the campaign trail in Montreal on Friday, April 4, emphasizing its role in Canadian cultural sovereignty. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also highlighted their parties' plans for CBC/Radio-Canada in their own respective press conferences that same day. “Canada's identity and institutions are under attack by foreign interference,” said Carney, referring to United States President Donald Trump’s annexation threats against the country. “President Trump wants to assimilate our culture, the culture that defines Quebec and all of Canada,” Carney said in French. “But we will never let him do that. We will protect our culture, we will protect the French language …, we will protect Canadian identity. To do this, we must protect the institutions that promote our culture and our identity throughout the world.” If elected, Carney said his government will “strengthen” CBC/Radio-Canada by modernizing its mandate and increasing its long-term funding, he said. According to the party's announcement, a Liberal government would add to the broadcaster’s mandate a new governance plan that will make it more transparent, efficient, and innovative. The broadcaster’s role in promoting Canadian culture — including Quebec’s identity — would be reinforced, alongside boosts to local news coverage. It would also be mandated to provide real-time information on emergency situations and to combat disinformation. “When we compare ourselves to France, the United Kingdom, or Germany, we see that our public broadcaster is underfunded. This must change,” said Carney in French, promising to provide CBC/Radio-Canada with an initial $150 million funding increase. “Our expectation is that, in the following years, the financing will continue to increase until it becomes comparable to other broadcasters around the world.” He also said his government would make the public broadcaster’s funding statutory, “meaning that Parliament as a whole will need to approve any future changes to its funding, not just the cabinet.” “When it comes to this most important of Canadian institutions, all Canadians should have their say, not just a small group,” he said. Carney explained that many of the Liberals’ plans for the Crown corporation were “informed” by former heritage minister Pascale St-Onge’s proposal for CBC/Radio-Canada, which she issued back in February. This time around, however, the public broadcaster will be allowed to continue advertising on its platforms. “To govern is to choose, and part of choosing is on funding models and ensuring that we have adequate funding for this enlarged mandate, and this crucial mandate for CBC/Radio-Canada,” said Carney on permitting advertisements. He stated that “the judgment in the end” to have a “balance of some statutory funding and advertising, including during the news,” is an “appropriate balance in terms of taxpayer dollars and competition.” When it comes to ads, Carney’s plan goes against St-Onge’s proposal, which would have seen CBC/Radio-Canada eliminate advertising on all news, information, and public affairs programming on all of its services. “The search for advertising revenues is incompatible with the information mission of CBC/Radio-Canada,” said the former heritage minister back in February. She argued that the public broadcaster’s reliance on ad dollars risks compromising its public service mandate and could encourage it to favour revenue-generating content. St-Onge also noted that it would free up advertising dollars for the private sector, which garnered some support from Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) president Kevin Desjardins at the time. While it would have been a good start, said Desjardins in a February interview with The Wire Report at the time, he said that private broadcasters would prefer to see CBC/Radio-Canada get out of the advertising sector entirely. READ MORE: – Liberals unveil their vision for CBC/Radio-Canada’s future as looming snap election jeopardizes their plans – Cardozo calls for CBC/Radio-Canada reforms, says it is 'essential service' – Budget finds money for CBC, public interest broadcasters – Incoming CBC head non-committal on bonuses as she takes the helm, pledges to listen to Canadians Alongside Carney during his Montreal appearance was Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity and Parks Canada Steven Guilbeault, who replaced St-Onge and her renamed Canadian Heritage portfolio before the election was called. “History is a witness of the fact that undermining culture is always part of efforts to undermine sovereignty. Right now, our sovereignty is being threatened by the United States,” said Guilbeault. “Protecting Canada’s distinct identity has never been more crucial, that's why we must protect our culture, which will never be on the negotiating table.” Independent producers welcome Liberal promises The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) applauded the Liberal party’s campaign promise, highlighting the public broadcaster’s role in supporting the country’s production industry as the largest commissioner of original Canadian content. “Rising trade tensions with the United States and ongoing attacks on our national sovereignty underscore the need to protect longstanding national institutions, such as Canada’s public broadcaster. A strong, well-funded national public broadcaster that serves all Canadians, invests in our stories, and reinforces national unity is something the entire country should support,” said CMPA president Reynolds Mastin in a statement. According to the group, last year the CBC invested $400 million into the sector. “The CBC must continue its efforts to ensure that it truly reflects the varying perspectives of Canadians from all regions, from Gibbons to Gander, Calgary to Charlottetown, Whitehorse to Winnipeg, and beyond,” Mastin added. Tories critical of increased spending During his announcement, Carney fired shots at his main opponent on the campaign trail, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. “Instead of defending , Pierre Poilievre is following President Trump's lead and taking aim at our institutions like CBC/Radio-Canada,” said Carney, referring to the Tory leader’s plans to defund the public broadcaster’s English arm while leaving Radio-Canada untouched. “Pierre Poilievre pretends you can keep one but not the other,” Carney continued. “But he's not Solomon. You can't split this baby. His attack on CBC is an attack directly on Radio-Canada, and it is an attack on our Canadian identity.” Speaking in Trois-Rivières, Que. on the same day, Poilievre repeated his own plans for the Crown corporation. “My approach won’t have an effect on Radio-Canada,” he said, going on to criticize Carney’s proposal to increase spending. “Mr. Carney is now proposing hundreds of millions of billions of dollars in additional spending. Let’s be clear on this, Mr. Carney has not proposed a single penny in cost reductions in this government. He is now proposing to stack billions more costs on top of an already morbidly obese government,” said Poilievre. “We need a change, folks. We can’t go on spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need, or our people are going to end up with even more brutal inflation,” he proclaimed, promising to cut “waste, bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid, and other unnecessary expenses.” NDP support investing ‘significantly’ in public broadcaster NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also made a stop in Montreal, where he proposed more investment into CBC/Radio-Canada. He made note of the recently released Foreign Interference Commission report, which highlighted the threats that misinformation poses to democracy. “In light of , it's more important than ever to have a public broadcaster, one where there's quality journalism, information you can trust, fact-checking that goes on. So I think it's very important for us to invest significantly in a public broadcaster as a way to fight back against misinformation and disinformation.” Singh also emphasized the CBC’s importance “in the context of attacks on our sovereignty from Donald Trump, attacks on our very country.” “Culture and our identity are fundamental, and CBC as a public broadcaster has been a fundamental part of celebrating Canadian culture, celebrating Quebec culture, being a place for us to showcase our talent, to showcase our culture.” In February, the NDP issued a statement about its plans for the CBC, saying that, if elected, “an NDP government will invest in journalism that can report and broadcast locally, ban CBC executive bonuses so that money can go in quality journalism, and ensure Canada continues to have a strong, reliable and local public broadcaster.” phalentm@thewirereport.ca

Carney promises $150M in new funding for CBC, will continue to allow ads

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
| April 4, 2025

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Carney promises $150M in new funding for CBC, will continue to allow ads

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