OTTAWA—From pushing petitions to stoking fears of political motivations, those worried that government involvement in labour negotiations at Crown corporations will threaten the independence of the CBC are stepping up efforts to persuade the Conservatives to reconsider.

“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that an editorial decision to go easy on the government could be made in the heat of a contract negotiation, if the prime minister is, in effect, seated on the other side of the bargaining table,” Ian Morrison, with the advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

“Even subtle influences on story line-ups affect the quality of news decision-making. Without a strict, arm’s-length relationship and independence from government, the CBC will lose its credibility,” Morrison told a news conference in Ottawa Wednesday.

The group presented an online petition with 130,000 signatures to NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau calling on the Conservative government to remove controversial measures affecting the public broadcaster from the omnibus budget implementation Bill C-60.

The proposed changes would allow the Treasury Board Secretariat to set the mandate for contract negotiations at Crown corporations — including the CBC, VIA Rail and Canada Post — and sit as an observer at the bargaining table.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood by the move Wednesday.

“The government remains the underwriter, the backstop, for all financial transactions of all Crown corporations on behalf of the taxpayers of Canada,” Harper said during question period in the House of Commons.

“We have some Crown corporations that have very serious financial problems going forwards. We will ensure the measures they take adequately reflect the needs of Canadian taxpayers and respect the rights of Canadians,” Harper said.

The New Democrats view the changes as a part of a pattern of the Conservative government taking an aggressive stance on labour relations and appeared alongside union representatives at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday to underscore that point.

“This new attempt by the government is consistent with their war on workers and war on unions in regard to bargaining for their members,” Hassan Yussuf, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress said at the news conference.

Alex Levasseur, president of the Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada, which represents about 1,000 workers at the French-language service, explained how the proposed changes affect the public broadcaster in particular.

“CBC/Radio-Canada is called upon daily to question the government, to shed light on what the government is doing, so how will we be able to continue doing this work and sit down at the bargaining table with the government and (have them) explain where they intend for the negotiating process to go?” said Levasseur, whose union is asking the board of directors at CBC/Radio-Canada, as well as the CRTC, to intervene.

CBC/Radio-Canada has about 8,600 employees (including approximately 7,200 unionized workers) and about 500 of them are involved in news gathering, which does not include program hosts, anchors, presenters or reporters working in sports and weather.

CBC spokesman Angus McKinnon said in an email Wednesday that management wrote to the federal government to ask for a meeting to talk about concerns they have about the proposed amendments and is hopeful they will agree to meet.

NDP labour critic Alexandre Boulerice suggested the move is politically motivated.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“They are there to criticize the government, but I think Harper doesn’t really like to be criticized,” Boulerice said.

Boulerice said that in addition to continuing to ask questions on the topic in the House of Commons, the NDP is also organizing a petition and urging employees at Crown corporations to write Conservative MPs about their concerns.

Read more about: