Carney pledges $150M boost to 'underfunded' CBC

Mark Gollom · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 10:33 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Liberal Leader Mark Carney said connected Friday that his government would provide an archetypal $150-million yearly backing summation to CBC and Radio-Canada arsenic portion of a caller mandate for the nationalist broadcaster.

"When we comparison ourselves to the U.K., France or Germany, we spot that our nationalist broadcaster is underfunded," Carney said successful French during a run stop in Montreal. "That has to change."

That archetypal backing top-up could rise, Carney said.

"We expect that successful the coming years, we volition proceed to summation that backing until it tin beryllium compared to that provided by different nationalist broadcasters."

Carney besides said backing of the CBC and Radio-Canada would beryllium made statutory, meaning immoderate changes would person to beryllium approved by Parliament, not conscionable the government's cabinet.

"Canadians themselves and their full Parliament indispensable determine connected the aboriginal of Radio-Canada/CBC — not ideologues," helium said.

A mandate to fortify section news

Carney said these measures would beryllium portion of the development of the broadcaster's caller mandate, which will require a level of semipermanent backing successful enactment with that of different nationalist national broadcasters.

The projected mandate would also include strengthening section quality with much section bureaus and reporters, and the wide and accordant transmission of life-saving accusation during emergencies.

CBC received an estimated $1.38-billion in 2024-25. 

Carney's plans for the CBC contrast with those of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. 

Poilievre has said helium wants to defund the CBC while maintaining its French-language programming. However, the corporation has said specified a move would necessitate the Broadcasting Act, the instrumentality outlining its mandate, "to beryllium rewritten."

The instrumentality requires the nationalist broadcaster to supply programming successful some French and English, and it does not springiness the authorities sway implicit however resources are allocated to execute that.