Why Pierre Poilievre has suddenly gone silent on defunding the CBC

[applegrove]

Why Pierre Poilievre has suddenly gone silent on defunding the CBC

Poilievre has not mentioned his promise to gut the public broadcaster at any of his press conferences or policy announcements since the campaign started on Sunday.

March 27, 2025

By Alex BallingallDeputy Ottawa Bureau Chief

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/why-pierre-poilievre-has-suddenly-gone-silent-on-defunding-the-cbc/article_5c58ee2c-11ba-4399-a78f-be1130c600a9.html

"SNIP..........

OTTAWA—Pierre Poilievre wants you to know: if he’s prime minister, taxes will get axed. Red tape will get slashed. Crime will get smacked down.

But there is another long-standing Poilievre priority that the party has not highlighted in the same way over the opening stretch of the campaign this week.

His plan to “defund” the CBC.

Poilievre has not mentioned his promise to gut the public broadcaster at any of his press conferences or policy announcements since the election campaign started on Sunday. When he’s talked about spending cuts, it has been about peeling back bureaucracy and slashing government outsourcing and foreign aid.

His plan to defund the CBC, however, hasn’t been entirely absent on the campaign trail — during a rally in Hamilton he referenced transforming the broadcaster’s headquarters into housing stock — but little else has been said of what was once a regular talking point. Noticeably, his campaign put out a Québec-focused platform that talked about preserving Radio-Canada — the French part of the service Poilievre says he wants to keep — without referencing his promise to “defund” the English part of the CBC.

............SNIP"

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Can't read the article. What is the why?

[applegrove]

2. Because there are other issues he wants to highlight

and, with Trump threatening to annex Canada, it might not go over well with Canadians who are looking to strengththen the nation. Also many are saying destroying english language CBC will make french language radio canada degrade as they share resources. Also with all the local media shuttered, cbc has a role to play in local news, and Poilievre may not want these two issues at the forefront if they admit they are going to sink the english language cbc. I can't remember the words exactly but that is the gist.

The Poilievre Team confirmed canceling the CBC is still their plan. I wonder if they are not waiting till later in the campaign to highlight the huge bonuses the management got. The article also went into that.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. That covers a bunch of points and makes the story understandable. Thanks. . . . nt