Briefing Note

Last summer, all federal government departments and agencies, including the CBC, were ordered to submit plans for 5% and 10% budget cuts. The goal of this fiscal restraint is to achieve a balanced budget by 2015.

In the case of the CBC, the 10% scenario is particularly severe because it could result in not just a $110M cut but, combined with non-renewal of the annual ‘top-up’ of $60M, which successive governments have delivered to CBC toward the end of each fiscal year since 2002, could yield a $170M shortfall, or 15.5% of CBC’s parliamentary allocation.

The CBC has “prepaid” its share of this year’s anticipated federal budget reductions. So have its loyal listeners and viewers, who have felt the impact in the form of reduced quantity and quality of service.

Over the past fifteen years, while overall government spending has risen by more than 50% in real terms, the value of the Parliamentary allocation to the CBC has fallen by more than 15%.

Inevitably, the results of all this are evident on our screens and speakers. If there were any room for “efficiencies,” they have long since been made. Every dollar cut now comes right out of programming. Eventually, the service will be so much less attractive that few Canadians would notice or care if it were to disappear altogether. (Could that be the plan?)

Let's look at a few examples of how cuts have weakened CBC programming and project on how the trend is likely to continue if further cuts are imposed.