Maamuitaau may not survive the next round of CBC cutbacks.
The Cree-language weekly TV show, which has been aired for 14 years, is not likely to survive unless there is a public outcry, said Suzanne Aubin, manager of CBC North-Quebec.
“That’s one hope we have—that the public outcry will be loud enough. But in the state we’re at now, it’s a pretty dim hope,” said Aubin.
After over a decade of continuous cutbacks in CBC’s budget, Ottawa is cutting $414 million more over the next three years. Regional shows will be hit hardest. CBC North is losing 28 per cent of its radio budget, and 39 per cent of its spending on TV. That means 27 to 33 jobs lost out of a total of 154 at CBC North.
CBC North now has three TV shows covering the entire North—news shows in English and Inuktitut that run half an hour every day, and Maamuitaau. CBC figures it can save money by killing Maamuittau.
“They have to re-evaluate what they can give to the public with 40-per-cent less budget,” said Aubin.
Aubin said she herself volunteered to take a pay cut and will only be working four days a week. “That gives us a little more money for direct services,” she said.
Already, the cutbacks have sparked opposition from northern and First Nations leaders. The Eastmain First Nation has passed a resolution supporting CBC North, and Zebedee Nungak of Makivik Corp. has written to Heritage Minister Sheila Copps protesting against the cutbacks.
Manitok Thompson, an NWT cabinet minister, recently travelled to Ottawa to meet CBC President Perrin Beatty. To his surprise, she spoke only in Inuktitut, and there were no translators present. Later, Thompson explained that she wanted Beatty to understand how an Inuk feels in a sea of foreign languages.
Audrey McLaughlin, MP for the Yukon, has introduced a private members’ bill in the House of Commons calling for a stop to the cutbacks to CBC North.
If Maamuitaau is eliminated, the CBC may keep on some of the staff so they can produce occasional features on the Crees for the daily English-language show on CBC North.
But only two Cree communities now get CBC North. This means Maamuitaau will probably stay on the air until CBC figures out how to get CBC North to all the Cree communities, Aubin said. Ironically, this will cost the CBC more money, even though the reason for eliminating Maamuitaau is to save money, she added.
Apart from possibly killing Maamuittau, an announcer-producer position in CBC North-Quebec’s office is also being cut. Money for travel, expenses and free-lancers is also getting tighter.
On top of that, another possible casualty is Radio Canada International, which carries the CBC signal into bush camps in Eeyou Estchee and across the North.
Last year, RCI almost fell victim to the cutbacks, but at the last minute it was given another year to stay on the air. The yearlong reprieve expires in April.
“We’ve been given no reason to believe that the bail-out will persist past April,” said Craig Yeo of CBC North’s Yellowknife office.
