NDP accuses Conservatives of scrapping the CBC’s regional news bulletins

The NDP says the Conservative government is the ultimate party responsible for the new round of massive cuts announced today, which will further impair broadcasting of regional news in many areas of the country.

“The budget cuts imposed on the Corporation by the Conservative government are preventing the CBC from carrying out its full mandate. The institution is suffocating – it needs stable financing, not the contempt of the Harper government,” said NDP Heritage critic Pierre Nantel (Longueuil – Pierre-Boucher).

In minority and remote communities across Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada is often the sole source of French-language news and plays an essential role in bringing communities together. The NDP has been calling for the government to guarantee stable, multi-year and sufficient financing, so that it may carry out it work across the entire country and all of its regions.

“Be it minority communities, remote areas or in the country’s large urban centres, Canadians require and deserve quality local news coverage. Whether it’s Toronto, Rimouski or Halifax, we want to know what's going on in both official languages,” said NDP Official Languages Critic Yvon Godin.