License To Shill: The Expired Need For A Public Broadcaster

“Yeah, I think a dumpster fire is a kind way to describe what is before us here… There's a Liberal government that's been in place for over a decade... it is at their feet.”— Amanda Galbraith, Crisis manager

Canada’s attitude to America is characterized by periods of condescension to its southern neighbours. Or, as we’ve called it, Sometimes An Ingrate Nation . The lofty tone suggests the U.S. is Chris Farley and in need of Canada’s measured wisdom. This became pronounced with Pierre Trudeau’s pecksniff dismissals of U.S. democracy during the Viet Nam era. 

As a result, reducing the American political process to The Gong Show has played very well for Canada’s media. For proof see Pierre Poiievre’s recent visit to Joe Rogan’s enormously popular and influential podcast in Texas. Having reduced PP to a MAGA troll with a volcanic temper— to shoehorn globalist errand boy Mark Carney into the prime minister’s job— the press corps acted as if they were a parent sending a child off to a Kendrick Lamar concert.

On CBC, Chantal Hébert described Rogan, the MMA promoter and standup comedian, as a a Trump acolyte and purveyor of disinformation about Covid. On CTV a persnickety Scott Reid, already miffed that a Canadian politician would go to the U.S. amidst their anti-American fatwa, described the two-hour show (#1 rated in the U.S.) as a risk that would only cement Poilievre’s status as a Trump troll— a status created and embellished by Reid. 

Those who did watch the podcast saw something entirely different, of course, as Poilievre declined to rip Carney “on foreign soil”, remained measured and sober throughout and awarded Rogan a Canadian kettlebell weight for his gym. The CPC leader refused to bitch about how he’d been crushed by Trump’s 51st state remark. By the end, he was interviewing Rogan about mixed martial arts, Georges St. Pierre and the Calgary Stampede. 

In short it was the plucky mid-level bureaucrat tone that took him to a 20-point lead over Trudeau’s son Justin and then saw him pummelled when the Trump-deranged NDP flocked to Carney’s Elbow Up promotion. The man derided as a political barnacle by Liberal media and bots— who have no lives outside of Parliament Hill themselves— lost his opportunity to remove funding for CBC and media. Whether the chat ever results in Poilievre becoming PM is doubtful, but he was authentic.

Some saw it for what it was. After the Rogan show (and PP’s speech to the Harvard Club in NYC) former NDP leader Tom Mulcair commented: "I thought it was an outstanding piece of political communication, and it was bookended by ... frankly one of the best political speeches I've heard any Canadian political leader give on Canada-US relations in a long time.” Hébert gave the Rogan talk a grudging passing grade on the At Issue Panel.

His critics, many of whom would lose jobs under a Polievre administration, described him as sucking up to Rogan. "Pierre Poilievre's got to be careful that he doesn't look like he's vying for the position of MAGA's most preferred Prime Minister of Canada,” sniped Reid. “Because that ain't going to play with Canadians.”

CBC’s 22 Minutes spoofed a flustered, irritable Poilievre and the kettlebell episode on Rogan— which in another time might have been seen as funny. In this context it was simply more of the federally funded network’s snark. And here’s a CBC news lineup the day after Rogan and Poilievre talked MMA and gyms. White supremecists anyone?

They certainly were not mentioning how the prime minister’s wife Diana Fox Carney , former Liberal bag man Gerald Butts and current cabinet minister Evan Solomon worked together in NYC for Ian Bremner’s Eurasia Group consultants— which continues to receive millions in federal contracts.

Former CRTC vice-chair Peter Menzies says selective media have a crisis of credibility. When CBC invited Bremmer to get his take on the Iran war, CBC saw no need to mention any of these connections. “Don’t get me wrong. Bremmer’s a smart guy and brings value to the conversation. But when making such a selection, the CBC owes it to its audiences to mention the connections outlined.

“There’s growing concern that legacy media outlets—now financially dependent on government support—may struggle to maintain objectivity, particularly during national elections,” he wrote on Substack. “This dependency risks undermining the media’s role as a watchdog of democracy.” 

A recent Pollara Trust in Media study showed that CBC trails The Weather Network as Canada’s most-trusted media organization for the third consecutive year. The study then found levels of trust in TV networks CBC (72 percent trusted), CTV (67 percent trusted), and Global (65 percent trusted). With such a concentration on government-dependent sources it’s little wonder Canadians see Trump as the devil incarnate and truckers as threats to national safety.

Now, bias is acceptable so long as it’s acknowledged. As private networks, CTV and Global are entitled to express opinions so long as they are fact-based. CBC, however, is a different story. Receiving a $1.5B budget from Carney’s government funding is increasingly seen as an anachronism. Why in this age of mass communication in Canada is there still a need for a public broadcaster anymore when you have CTV, Global , major daily newspapers and social media?

The numbers say the audience just aren’t there anymore. In Toronto the local CBC news is watched by 49,000 people, 0.74 percent of the population of the city. Calgary had 4,000 viewers, 0.25 percent. Vancouver had 0.4 percent watch the news. Local radio does better. So why is the Liberal government is continuing with CBC if not ads a propaganda arm?

Cabinet minister (and former Trudeau groomsman) Marc Miller offered up weak sauce for 23 CBC/ Radio Canada stations across Canada getting an additional $17 million to. He called the radio funding “critical… because these stations often broadcast to remote communities where they might not get news from other sources.” Um, perhaps the honourable minister might consult Starlink satellite service to aid those in far-flung places.

The solution? If, as CBC groupies say, the network has an audience then the government should sell it someone whom can make a profit from the content. If no one takes the opportunity then you have your answer about the value of CBC. 

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his 2025 book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed Hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His new poetry collection In Other Words is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca and on Kindle books at https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1069802700