Staff at CBC North are bracing for a possible 25-per-cent cut to their funding. There is even worried speculation that the meagerly funded northern service could be eliminated entirely as the CBC goes through a sweeping overhaul.
In the latest Liberal budget, $44 million was cut from CBC’s $ I-billion budget. That came on top of years of budget gouging by the previous Tory government.
This year, every department including CBC North was told to cut 4 to 5 per cent of its budget. In the following two years, another 11 per cent will be cut.
But that may not be the end of it, according to Marie Wilson, regional director at CBC North’s head office in Yellowknife. “We’ve all been asked to work up 25-per-cent (cutback) scenarios,” she said. “We don’t have any indication yet as to how that might go.” Privately, some staff at the northern service worry that CBC North may even be eliminated entirely in the frenzy of spending cuts. Compared to other regions, CBC North is already lean, which means the cuts will come down harder than elsewhere, say staffers.
CBC North employs about 150 people across the north and in its Montreal office. If 25-per-cent of its budget is slashed, at least 40 to 50 people could be laid off, said Wilson. Other drastic changes will be made as well, including cuts to programming hours, smaller travel budgets for journalists hoping to get out to northern communities and more reruns.
It won’t be clear before next fall if the 25-per-cent cuts will actually be implemented. A final decision will be made after several ongoing reviews of CBC’s mandate and operations are released this summer.
“We are a bit in the dark,” says Suzanne Aubin, area manager for CBC North-Quebec.
“We are waiting and hoping we won’t be hit as hard as other departments.” Aubin said the funding cuts mean CBC North’s Quebec operation won’t have the money to move to a northern community for the forseeable future, an idea that’s been tossed around for years.
