Amidst the calls for lowest-bidder privatization and the outright abolition of a public broadcaster that seems to have lost its way, the true importance of the CBC-a mirror that reflects what it is to be Canadian-has been lost.
We can criticize the cheesy sitcoms and laugh at the badly written, supposedly “edgy” radio plays. But the CBC is a crucial part of our national media because it takes the time to explore and lovingly present the wonderful nooks and crannies of our country in a way that slicked-up networks like CTV or Global never could.
The sometimes bumbling nature of the Mother Corp. is part of its charm-nowhere else will you find hours devoted to Nova Scotian fiddlers or interviews with Prairie farmers. And while programs like these sometimes come off as quaint when contrasted with the usual ‘newsy’ content we tend to look for in a story, who’s to say that every Canadian tale has to be told in the same way?
It’s a comfort to know there still exists a broadcaster that will send a reporter to small-town Saskatchewan to interview a 100-year-old man who still stubbornly travels the province reciting the poetry of Robert Service in a gravelly baritone. These are the stories that mainstream news outlets wouldn’t look at twice, but in the end are crucial to preserve if we want to understand and celebrate our distinct culture.
For decades, the CBC has been the vehicle for transmitting the many variations of that culture from sea unto sea-without it, could Newfoundlanders experience what it’s like to work as a logger in B.C., or Torontonians ever hope to understand the labour woes of small-town Quebec? In a nation too often plagued by a lack of regional interaction at the political level, the CBC facilitates dialogue and fosters understanding between Canada’s disparate citizens. Programs like the late, great Morningside and The National (still one of the most mature and balanced newscasts around) serve to link together listeners and viewers who will never actually meet, and help make the CBC a source of national pride (much like the BBC in the UK).
The current lockout and the short-sighted, bitter rhetoric coming from both sides inspire anything but pride, and the government’s continuing refusal to intervene is a cowardly and ultimately destructive decision. Sadly, some politicians seem to be rooting for the network to crash-land. If constructive action does not replace this pointless vituperation, and soon, the pig-headed voices of crass commercialism could drown out the plain-spoken, insightful drawls of the Peter Gzowskis and Shelagh Rogerses of our land.
As many pundits have been speculating, the lockout could lead to a major rethinking of how the CBC operates. And that would be fine, if the network can learn to better manage labour relations without sacrificing its defining Canadian character. We cannot afford to lose our CBC and replace it with a stylish-but-empty broadcaster that will present the “meaty” stories but leave off the seasoning. In short, we need the CBC back doing what it does best: telling our story-to us and about us-for a long time to come.
