WINNIPEG—The head of the CBC is hitting back at Conservative Leader Stephen Harper over the national broadcaster’s funding.

CEO Hubert Lacroix says the CBC has healthy ratings, but is crippled by a broken funding model.

After the CBC’s annual general meeting in Winnipeg, Lacroix said Canada must look to other European countries for ideas on how to fund public broadcasting.

He says Germany has a household fee, while France collects revenue from Internet service providers.

Harper told a private radio station in Quebec that the CBC’s budget crunch isn’t due to government cuts, but because of its low ratings.

He said there is a limit to state subsidies and the problem is for the CBC to fix.

Lacroix wouldn’t answer when asked whether he thought Harper’s comments were fair.

“But I’m going to tell you it’s not because of our ratings that we have a problem at CBC-Radio Canada.”

Read more about: