Sell the CBC
Now’s the time, if there is ever to be one, for the Conservatives to sell the CBC. Here”s why.
- In a minority Parliament the Conservatives won”t need to shoulder all the blame for it among those who still like the idea of a state-controlled media.
- Those who would retain the CBC don”t vote Conservative anyway so no votes will be lost. By putting it in the budget, if the budget is defeated it will become an election issue which will galvanize conservative-libertarian support for the Conservatives.
- It can be sold as a necessary measure in hard economic times.
- It will eliminate an active political opponent of the Conservatives.
- It will reduce pressure on private media to exhibit a leftist bias and result in more objective reporting.
- Eliminating this state-funded atrocity will create a void in the market which can be filled by private talk-radio, cerebral PBS-type media and similar programing on existing media which will arise.
- There will be no more tax-funded disgraces such as the recent racist Radio-Canada Bye Bye show reported on by the Globe and Mail.
The public appetite for ridding our country of this infernal institution has never been higher and the political price never lower. The Conservative membership strongly supports privatization. That leaves one inescapable conclusion – that if the CBC is not sold by this government, it is because powerful members of the government want it. Who are they? I”d love to know where each one stands on the issue.