The inside story of decades of government interference in the work of our national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada.
CBC/Radio-Canada has long been one of Canada’s most important cultural institutions. For French-speaking Canadians, with more limited options in their own language, its importance and cultural contributions were even greater.
Decades-old tensions around issues of national identity and national unity have exacerbated the tendency of federal politicians to meddle in the national public broadcaster’s content and management, despite its legislated “arms-length” status.
Alain Saulnier, long-time head of news and public affairs programming at Radio-Canada, takes us behind the scenes as these tensions play out over the years, often in secret, culminating in the punitive Harper budget cuts and further political interference that are jeopardizing the continued existence of CBC/Radio-Canada.
