Poilievre still vowing to defund CBC
Pierre Poilievre, speaking from Montreal on Day 24 of the election campaign, says he does not have a time frame for when he would defund the CBC. Poilievre added he would continue funding Radio-Canada for the francophone community.
I’m Cat Tunney, following the Conservatives this week. One of Poilievre’s cornerstone policies leading up the election has been to gut CBC, the English-language public broadcaster. It’s a promise that often elicits cheers from his supporters at rallies and amongst Conservatives whenever they gather at conventions.
In a campaign dominated by renewed Canadian patriotism, however, the bombastic leader appeared to have taken his foot off the pedal on the policy, rarely mentioning CBC in his stump speeches.
During this morning’s announcement in a Montreal hotel conference room, a reporter asked Poilievre a simple yes or no question: will you defund the CBC within 100 days of forming government?
The short answer: yes, a Poilievre government would defund the CBC (although he didn’t commit to a timeline). In the same breath, he suggested that he sees a way for the CBC to survive, but without government funding.
“We’re going to defund the CBC and let Canadians enjoy it as a non-profit, self-funded organization,” Poilievre said.
And a small note: CBC has shown up to every news conference he has had this week but has been shut out of asking one of the limited four questions.
