My question is for Senator Gold, the spokesperson for the government in the Senate. Prince Edward Islanders were surprised on March 18, at the beginning of the pandemic, that CBC Toronto decided that they would cancel all local newscasts. Prince Edward Island only has one English newscast in the province, and it’s the CBC. We were surprised that when we appealed to the CRTC, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — because CBC gets their licence from the CRTC — it was pointed out by the CRTC that the CBC, as a condition of their licence, promised “at least 7 hours of local programming per week . . .” Another condition was that they could not change that without approval from the CRTC following a public process of consultation. None of that was done.

Islanders, of course, were asking, “who do we appeal to?” We are at the beginning of a pandemic, we have a province with a high percentage of seniors and some of the worst rural internet connections in Canada. The information from the local CBC TV news was critical for the health and well-being of Prince Edward Islanders. CRTC did nothing, and Prince Edward Islanders were wondering if the Prime Minister or the Minister of Heritage could do anything. Of course, they can’t, because the CBC is an independent organization.

Will the government inquire why the CRTC failed in their responsibility to enforce the conditions that the CBC agreed to operate under?

The weakness here was the CRTC. The CBC, in the view of Islanders, made an idiotic statement. At the beginning of the pandemic, when we needed it the most for information, they abandoned the field. However, they didn’t cancel the local CBC French news across Canada. They continued operating. The English CBC said, “it’s not safe and we have to protect our employees.” The employees were not asking for that. They said they could carry on and provide the service. It was somebody at CBC Toronto who decided to do it. At the same time, the CBC French local newscasts continued; a complete contradiction. The CBC eventually backtracked, but they were putting the lives of Islanders at risk. The provincial health authorities were trying to get information out on conduct, how to behave and what the situation was, and we were left with — fortunately — a daily newspaper and radio stations, but the primary CBC news was gone. The disappointing factor was the CRTC, which was responsible for making them keep that newscast on, did not do their job. Why is the CRTC not doing their job? That’s a question I would like you to find out on our behalf.