EDITORIAL: CBC standing guard? We prefer an army

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The federal Liberals unveiled their plan for national security last week.

Does it increase spending on our armed forces?

No, according to Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, the way to defend this country is by almost doubling funding for CBC.

St-Onge released a document that suggested revamping the funding and operational models for CBC.

“Public finances are a matter of concern for the Canadian population, but so are our national security and our sovereignty,” said St-Onge.

The new measures are needed to protect Canada from foreign interference, 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,” she said.

St-Onge suggested we need CBC to counter “misinformation” from other news sources. And she said it without laughing.

The CBC, that bastion of fair-minded and even-handed coverage, will lead us to the Promised Land of Truth in Broadcasting.

The same CBC where some journalists and commentators can barely suppress an eye roll when they talk about Conservatives. The same CBC that launched a ludicrous copyright lawsuit against the Conservative party in the final days of the 2019 elections for using a short clip from the broadcaster in its advertising. The same CBC that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to defund if he becomes prime minister.

Poilievre responded to St-Onge by pointing to the CBC’s dismal ratings.

“They have among the worst ratings of any network and yet Trudeau gives them billions more. We’re going to cut wasteful spending, not just there but across the government, to bring down inflation, deficits and taxes. That’s common sense,” Poilievre said.

St-Onge didn’t specify how much more a Liberal government would give the CBC. It currently receives about $1.4 billion from the federal purse. That’s $33.66 per person. She indicated that she’d like to bring it up to the G-7 average of $62.20 per person.

We’d prefer to beef up security the old-fashioned way by investing that money in guns and tanks. Perhaps we could buy a functioning submarine or two.

Instead, it seems, a Liberal government would have our national broadcaster bore to death our enemies with tedious discussions about obscure topics in which nobody has any interest.