Let citizen juries bring independence and democracy to the CBC
By Simon Threlkeld in Opinion, Politics | October 14th 2015 .... "The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is vital to Canadian culture, democracy and freedom. It should be brought fully out from under the thumb of the prime minister and his or her party.
Although polls show most Canadians oppose funding cuts to the CBC, Stephen Harper has cut the CBC’s annual budget by $115 million since 2012. The CBC has announced it must sell its buildings across Canada to raise money. If Harper is re-elected, it will be a disaster for the CBC.
We need the CBC to hold the powerful to account, including the prime minister and his or her party, exposing falsehood, demagoguery, incompetence and the abuse of power. It is undemocratic, and even ludicrous, for the very politicians the CBC is supposed to be holding to account to be choosing the CBC’s leadership— and to have the power to cut its funding, or even shut it down and sell it to the private sector.
A classical fix
The CBC needs full independence from the prime minister, politicians and political parties, as well as from other powerful interests. The CBC’s board and president have always been chosen by the prime minister, overwhelmingly on a patronage basis for those who have assisted the sitting government. Stephen Harper has, unsurprisingly, stacked these offices with Conservative appointments.
The only way to end the patronage problem at the CBC is for the prime minister and politicians to be removed from the selection process.
Classical Athens sheds light on how this can be done in a highly democratic way"..... Click here to read more
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