Wednesday, March 25, 2009

According to Plan

James Moore, the Minister of Heritage, is often referred to as a really nice guy. He strikes me that way, to be honest and he also strikes me as being pretty bright. Sadly, to hear him bluster and lie about the CBC recently has destroyed any and all credibility he once may have had.

Now, I don't expect a Conservative Minister to suddenly not put forward the Conservative agenda, but somehow I thought this guy at least could avoid some of the deceitful practices that have now become synonymous with the Conservative Party of Canada. Silly me.

It seems with the announcement today that this government is well and truly on their way to dismantling the CBC. Not in a courageous way mind you. No, because not only would that be out of character for this cowardly group of misfits, it would also expose them far to broadly to the backlash they so richly deserve.

Moore of course denies any culpability in this, lying through his teeth by saying that he had no clue, none, that what the CBC was asking for was bridge financing and not a loan. What he leaves unsaid? Canadians are stupid and they will never follow the detail of the story. That's becoming their trademark isn't it? I also think it will be their downfall.

Ignatieff asked about this in the House today and of course received a wooden non-answer from Harper. Harper said something like it's always a terrible thing when someone loses their job. What the...? It's not someONE, it's 800 people and our national broadcaster and it's only terrible because he is sitting on his hands grinning while being in a position to stop it.

I mean, really think about that for a minute. He, as Prime Minister of this country during a recession, would rather see 800 individuals collect EI, (if they qualify), than have them be gainfully employed and contributing to the economy. It's truly mind boggling. There is one person in this country that I cannot wait to see lose his job and that is Stephen Harper.

An interesting little fact about the CBC and the Conservative claim that 'they invented it', from commenter RuralSandi:

Well, in checking it out R.B. Bennett created it’s predecessor BUT:
Fourth term King’s Liberals were returned to power once more in the 1935 election. The worst of the Depression had passed, and King implemented relief programs such as the National Housing Act and National Employment Commission. His government also created the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1936, Trans-Canada Airlines (the precursor to Air Canada) in 1937, and the National Film Board of Canada in 1939. In 1938, he changed the Bank of Canada from a private company to a crown corporation.


I guess there just isn't anything they won't lie about. Even something that in the end Canadians aren't going to think about.

Somehow I don't think we have heard the end of this story. The Conservatives may think they are dismantling things brick by brick, but their track record tells me that they aren't paying attention to how they are piling those bricks. That's always dangerous.

11 comments:

The Mound of Sound said...

Don't worry about it KNB. I'm sure the leader of the Official Opposition won't stand for this. After all, he's this close to bringing the Harper government down anyway. Right?

Anonymous said...

I strongly believe that we need the CBC but I was a little surprised at reading this:
In addition, senior managers' take-home pay will be cut by 20 per cent, through reduced bonuses, and corporate salaries will be rolled back by 5 per cent.
While it does sound pro-active, wtf is a private broadcaster doing with bonuses?
The 5% is actually a pay freeze. And the bonuses are reduced by %50


While I do emphasize with those loosing their positions, the rot starts at the top and if management can't be honest enough not use spin all the while acting like they have this entitlement - I have no pity for the CBC.

Get rid of buffoons such as Cherry (what's his salary after all?)

In other words, the CBC is poorly managed and seem that managers are corporate pigs. Start there.... I'm tired of seeing jobs disappear at the lower end..

Lacroix himself said that 60% of the overhead is salaries - that means that with a $171m budget deficits, the average employee is making $128000/year - something is wrong.


Sorry but I have no pity for mismanagement at that level. And yes I realize that it maybe all Connies wet dreams to get rid of the CBC...

Karen said...

Mound...gawd love ya.

When you come back to the real world, I'll be happy to have a conversation.

Karen said...

cwtf, yea, I'm not sure about the bonuses, but I suspect that they were put in place not to drive revenues in the classic sense, but rather to motivate change. I'm going to see if I can get more info on that.

Get rid of Cherry?! Yay!

I'm not sure I follow your math on the overhead. 60% of fixed cost in an media environment sounds about right to me...but I'm not sure you can make a leap, excluding all other factors to arrive at an average salary.

Personally, I'd give them the bridge financing, scrutinize their plan and hold them to it.

Didn't Moore say that their business plan was solid?

Anonymous said...

How on earth can anyone get this across to stupid people that vote for Harper but have no idea what all he is doing to ruin our Country. If the Liberals had all the money in the world..no one wants an election right now . It is a sad day, not for just the CBC. but for all its followers, whether they they listen to the radio, Newsworld or Hockey

Karen said...

Yes it is Cari. Harper won't survive the backlash.

The CBC will.

Anonymous said...

Lacroix is saying that he has to layoff 800 employees to make up the deficit. He pushed the 60% number. I may have made a jump but to save those 800 jobs he needs $171m -
I'd like to see the real numbers also.

RuralSandi said...

Cherniak_WFT - as I understand it, apparently the CBC people get a lot less money than the private media employees and the bonus is to attract talent.

About Lacroix - it seems to me that he should be fired - he's the head of it now. And, he was appointed by Harper, no management experience but is a merger/acquistions lawyer and donated to the Conservative party. Seems like there's a plan here.

KNB - as I said on your other blog - Del Mastro's riding is Peterborough and they have their own TV station via CBC - so it will be interesting to see what happens there.

Karen said...

Yes Sandi, that indeed warrants watching.

RuralSandi said...

Wasn't it also under Lacroix that CBC lost the hockey theme song and CTV got it?

Anonymous said...

Rural I agree that something nefarious is afoot at the CBC with the Connies pulling the strings.

But
Cherniak_WFT - as I understand it, apparently the CBC people get a lot less money than the private media employees and the bonus is to attract talent. Well given the layoffs and difficulty that the private sector is having....