Once More Into the Breach

During the lockout there was a great deal of talk about the CBC, it's past, present and it's future. Of course, once the lockout was over everyone went back to work and most of that talk, though not all of it, went by the wayside. There was some hope, I think, that after all of the fuss the politicians would fix it. But the politicians had problems of their own, and the reality is that once the CBC was back on the air, the pressure was off. For most of them, as evidenced by the silence during the election, it was not a priority in the fist place.

Now that there is some distance from the lockout, everyone is rested up a bit, and the anger has dissipated to some extent it is time to prevent the 2009 lockout from happening in the first place. Years of benign neglect by Liberal Governments were not, ultimately, helping the CBC. Every year costs went up and revenues remained largely stagnant so wave after wave of budget cuts, layoffs, and work stoppages became inevitable. This is not to defend the current senior management team, but no matter how good a manager you are, it is difficult to be continually expected to do more with less.

There is a significant amount of fear out there about what Harper and Bev Oda might have in mind for the CBC, but if you read their statements carefully and if you know something about their past, there is hope there for a better, stronger CBC, a CBC more committed to public broadcasting and Canadian stories than ever; a CBC that possesses it's own unique space in Canadian life rather than trying to compete with the private sector. The fact that it is a very small minority parliament, where other parties will have a great amount of influence, will also help to get something positive done.

With that said, I'm not sure, exactly, what the CMG has in mind. I haven't really talked to anyone involved yet. I know that "more money" and "solidarity forever" are not points that the Conservatives will take an interest in. Whatever argument goes forward will have to be carefully crafted, it will have to include as many points of view as possible, and it will have to include compromises on everyones part. Additionally if it is really going to work then the discussion needs to take place fairly publicly. Not that every discussion and meeting needs to be fully publicized, but progress and suggestions need to be in the open where the public can weigh in. If anything positive is going to happen at all then public support for the plan needs to be in place, preferably from the day it is delivered to the Government.

The second thing I'm not sure about is if all of this will do any good. But faced with wide public support for the CBC, but government positions that range between killing the CBC by benign neglect and killing the CBC by direct action, it seems that it must be tried. This is the leftover unresolved issue of the 2005 lockout, and this is where it will be decided if there is a lockout in 2009 or not (or even if there is a CBC in 2009.

The third thing I don't know is how, or when the CMG discussion will begin. I've volunteered, but haven't heard anything yet. But, I think the earlier the discussion starts the better and I do intend to go ahead and start talking with those who are interested - whether they are in the CMG or not. So, if you'd like to join the yahoo group, post a comment or send me an email with your thoughts - I'd love to hear from you.