CBC chief says broadcaster isn't making specific plans for loss of public subsidy

The head of the CBC says that while the public broadcaster must prepare for «all possible outcomes,» it doesn't have a specific plan in the works for the possibility of a future Conservative government cancelling all or part of the Crown corporation's public subsidy.

In an interview that airs Saturday on CBC Radio's, CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait said she has been working on efforts to transform CBC/Radio-Canada into a more efficient and valuable service — but the specific prospect of defunding is not a focus of those efforts.

«Of course we worry about the possibility, but I don't think that … spending a whole lot of time trying to guess what that will look like is really going to be effective over the next months. Our job is to convince Canadians of our value,» she told host Catherine Cullen.

«Are we planning for that outcome? No,» Tait said, when asked about the possible termination of the $1.3-billion subsidy the company receives yearly from the federal government.

Tait said that in polling commissioned by the public broadcaster, CBC found a «vast majority» of Canadians support its continued role in Canada. Two public polls conducted within the last year, by Spark and Angus Reid, suggest a significant minority of Canadians are in favour of defunding the CBC.

Tait said she's not in the business of predicting the outcome of future elections and her focus is on putting the CBC on a sustainable path.

«I don't even know what will happen in the election. I think what my role is, is to continue serving right to the bitter end what I believe to be the most important public institution for combating disinformation, for supporting [a] plurality of voices,» she said.

Tait has played a central role in the public debate about the