While many are lauding a Heritage committee report that recommends more money for the CBC, a broadcasting watchdog believes it reveals the Conservative government’s desire to ultimately bleed the public broadcaster dry.

The much-anticipated review of CBC/Radio-Canada, which was tabled by the multi-party committee on Thursday, says the CBC should have stable, multi-year funding, indexed to the cost of living, for at least seven years.

While Friends of Canadian Broadcasting welcomes the desire to boost CBC’s budget, the group is concerned about a dissenting report submitted by the committee’s Conservative members that insists the pubcaster should produce an itemized estimate of its future spending before any new spending is authorized. In other words, while the Conservatives appear to agree the CBC needs more money, it backed away from recommendations for specific increase amounts detailed in the report.

‘Normally we wouldn’t pay much attention to a dissenting report. But we presume that it reflects the thinking of the government of Canada,’ FCB spokesman Ian Morrison tells Playback Daily. ‘This is serious. If their policy is to expand the mandate and not provide resources, they are setting the CBC up to fail.’

The dissenting report also rejected the Heritage committee’s recommendation to air more Canadian content during primetime.

FCB is also concerned that the committee didn’t recommend changing how CBC’s president and board are selected. ‘One of the main problems with the CBC are patronage appointments. Someone gets in there and then brings in all his friends. Where else can you find a corporation where the board of directors doesn’t have a right to hire and fire the president? Only at the CBC.’

ACTRA is pleased the Heritage committee is both supporting the CBC and recognizing the rights of artists to be paid for their work in new media.

‘This recommendation gives us strength in our own negotiations with CBC, to secure improved rights for performers,’ said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA national executive director, in a statement.

But Waddell believes the report could have done more to help Canadian content: ‘We have a crisis in Canadian dramatic programming, and the committee could have recommended that the CBC do more for drama.’

The Canadian Media Guild also backs the Heritage committee’s report. ‘This feels like the first real moment of optimism for the CBC in recent memory,’ said union boss Lise Lareau in a release. ‘An all-party committee has said yes to the CBC, yes to expanded radio coverage, yes to more CBC programming, including on the internet, and yes to more money to properly fund these important initiatives. Let’s get on with it.’