CBC should receive funding for at least 7 years: report
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - A House of Commons committee is recommending the federal government commit "stable, multi-year funding" to the CBC.
The heritage committee split along party lines over the future of the public broadcaster, with members of the minority Conservative government writing their own, dissenting report.
But MPs of all political stripes agreed that the CBC should be able to depend on longer term funding.
There's little love lost between the Conservatives and the public broadcaster, however, and no guarantee the government will act on that or dozens of other non-binding recommendations - especially if it wins a majority in the next election.
The report says Ottawa should commit to funding the CBC for at least seven years, and the amount should be indexed to the cost of living.
Tory members disagreed with some key recommendations of the report, rejecting a proposal to force the public broadcaster to show strictly Canadian content during prime-time, Monday through Friday.
The dissenting report says the Tory government disagrees with any recommendations that "micro-manage our independent public broadcasting corporation."
The government members also rejected as "unacceptable" a call to boost the CBC's role in the development, promotion and distribution of Canadian feature films.
Witnesses from across the country appeared before the committee as it studied CBC's best chances for survival in a satellite-dominated, Internet age.
Bev Oda, then Heritage minister, said last April that the government was willing to consider multi-year funding. Maybe.
"Long-term, stable funding is something that has to be worked towards," she told the Senate transport and communications committee.
"But first of all let's ensure that the service we're supporting with our public funds is that which is going to be meaningful and relevant to Canadians."

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2008/02/28/4882351-cp.html