A national survey on the role of a public broadcaster in today’s media climate suggests a majority of Canadians want to preserve CBC/Radio-Canada.

The poll by McGill University’s Center for Media, Technology and Democracy found that 78 percent of respondents want the public broadcaster to continue operating, and 57 percent want to increase or maintain funding.

But respondents expressed some concerns. When asked whether or not they agreed with prepared statements covering common criticisms, about a third agreed that CBC “should not have advertising,” while 31 percent agreed with criticism of “biased reporting” and 27 criticized that it was “too woke”.

The future of CBC/Radio-Canada has been the subject of debate over the past year, as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to defund the public broadcaster if he is elected in the next vote federal.

The SRC is expected to receive $1.4 billion from the government in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to Canadian Heritage documents.

In the survey published on Wednesday, a third of respondents agreed with the statement that the public broadcaster does not receive sufficiently reliable funding. Additionally, 45 percent said they would support establishing a long-term funding model for the organization.

Canadian Heritage announced Tuesday that Marie-Philippe Bouchard, director of Quebec television, will be the next president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Several observers asked Radio-Canada to reorganize its funding model after the announcement of Bouchard’s appointment.

Annick Forest, president of the Canadian Media Guild, which represents 6,000 workers, including employees of the CBC and The Canadian Press, expressed hope that Bouchard will help Ottawa move the public broadcaster toward a long-term funding model. more sustainable term. Current funding is allocated annually through the federal budget.

“CBC/Radio-Canada must have access to stable, long-term funding to continue this valuable work,” Forest said in a statement Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the NDP has called for reform of the public broadcaster.

“It’s time to ban executive bonuses at a time when jobs are being lost,” NDP heritage critic Niki Ashton said in a statement.

Current CBC boss Catherine Tait has come under fire after millions of dollars in executive bonuses followed a series of layoffs in the last financial year.

Ashton also highlighted the need for CBC/Radio-Canada to strengthen its local and regional journalism at a time when the broadcaster has cut jobs and private broadcasters have closed their news bureaus.

When asked whether a major public broadcaster like CBC/Radio-Canada remains essential or relevant to Canadians in the digital age, 79% of respondents said it is as important or more important than ever.

However, two thirds cannot name a single journalist they trust. Of those named, the most trusted figures came from mainstream media outlets such as CBC and CTV, although some – like former news anchors Peter Mansbridge and Lloyd Robertson – have retired from journalism.

The survey polled 2,055 Canadian adults over the summer using Abacus Data. The margin of error for a comparable probability random sample of the same size is +/-2.16%, 19 times out of 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 23, 2024.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press