Mark Carney promises plan to ‘reform’ the CBC

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OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney says he wants to reform the CBC/Radio-Canada to ensure the public broadcaster is viable.

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During a campaign stop in Montreal Friday, Carney said that the “only” way to make the public broadcaster “viable” and “vibrant” was through reforms that he promised to announce in the coming days.

He did not provide any further details during the press conference, though he unsurprisingly confirmed the changes will not be akin to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s promise to defund the CBC while maintaining Radio-Canada.

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“The fantasy of Pierre Poilievre, that he can literally divide the baby. He is not Solomon. Radio-Canada will not survive under his plan,” Carney said, referring to the Biblical story of the “Judgement of Solomon.”

He said Radio-Canada’s survival is “only possible as part of a viable CBC.”

Carney was originally set to announce his plan for the public broadcaster on Thursday morning during a campaign stop in Quebec City. But the event was cancelled when Carney instead returned to Ottawa to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of new 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports Wednesday afternoon.

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His comments come on the heel of Poilievre’s promise Wednesday to preserve Radio-Canada’s French-language services across the country, in stark contrast to his repeated commitment to “defund the CBC.”

In a brief Quebec-specific platform published March 26, Poilievre acknowledged that the French language is in decline and must be protected and committed to “maintaining all funding in culture to support Quebec and Francophones.”

The document makes no mention of the public broadcaster’s English service.

Poilievre has repeatedly promised to defund the CBC since he was elected Conservative leader in 2023. The public broadcaster received $1.4 billion in government funding in 2024.

It would not be surprising if Carney’s reforms were inspired by a reform road map put forward by then-Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge last month.

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The 17-page document detailed how the Liberals wanted to transform the CBC’s funding model and governance by nearly doubling the amount of money Canadians spend each year and removing advertising from news programming.

“Public finances are a matter of concern for the Canadian population, but so are our national security and our sovereignty,” St-Onge said at the time. She is not running for re-election.

She said the proposal should be part of a package of measures put in place to protect Canada from foreign interference, from threats from the “Trump administration” and from “the hegemony and the place that the richest men on the planet occupy in the public space of discussion, debate and information.”

National Post, with files from Antoine Trépanier.

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