Legislation that would have stripped the CBC of its independence has been amended.
The federal government has withdrawn a section of Bill C-44 that gave cabinet the power to fire the president and board of the CBC without cause. National President Judy Darcy, along with CUPE activists and Friends of Public Broadcasting, had written the Prime Minister demanding that the bill be amended.
In her letter Darcy wrote that: “Taken together with the overt attempts to quash dissent within your caucus and in the streets, this legislation would dangerously concentrate power within the Prime Minister’s Office.
In the face of the public outcry, the Liberals have backed off. But their attempts to intimidate the CBC into self-censorship continue on other fronts.