CBC North braces itself for possible 25 per cent cut

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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 that may change the face of public broadcasting in Canada.

In the latest Liberal budget, $44 million was cut from CBC's $1 billion budget. That came on top of years of budget gouging by the previous Tory government. Every department, including CBC North, is being told to cut four or five per cent of its budget. In the next two years, another 11 per cent will be cut.

But that may not 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 CBC North airs Native language programming on radio and TV to communities across the N.W.T., Yukon, and northern Quebec. The CBC North signal is also picked up in the northern parts of almost every province.

Compared to other regions, CBC North is already lean, which means the cuts will come down harder than elsewhere, say staff "We've never been well-resourced," said Wilson.

CBC North employs about 15 people across the north and in an office in Montreal. 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 have

to be made as well, including the "store fronting" of some shows, she said. Hours of programming will be significantly cut, travel budges will be lopped off for journalists to get out to northern communities, seasons will be shorter and there'll be more repeats.

Is it frustrating?

"I think I'm past frustrated. I have my creative cap on now," Wilson said, "We have a good kind of spirit here that says we've faced problems in the past and got beyond them."

It won't be clear before next fall if the 25-per-cent cuts will be actually be implemented. A final decision will be made after several ongoing reviews of CBC's mandate and operations are released this summer.

CBC North-Quebec produces a Cree language weekly TV show, two Cree language radio shows and a French language radio show on Native issues. The funding cuts mean CBC North's Quebec operation won't have the money

to move to a northern community for the foreseeable future, an idea

that's been tossed around for years.