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FIRST THING — Strike’s on for the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s 155,000 members.
— Big if true: NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH says his party won’t support back-to-work legislation — even if it’s deemed a confidence vote. iPolitics’ MARCO VIGLIOTTI has the story and Singh’s lack of clarity on what it would mean for its supply-and-confidence deal. HOT AIR — Sen. JULIE MIVILLE-DECHÊNE says while partisan attacks against the CBC “disgust” her, ultimately, the public broadcaster isn’t beyond reproach. The narrative that the CBC is a propaganda tool of the federal government is simplistic and false, said the former veteran Radio-Canada journalist and ombudsman. Miville-Dechêne tells Playbook the hubbub involving Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE and the controversy about Twitter’s “government-funded media” label reminds her of the political opportunity PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU saw when he went after Radio-Canada’s newsroom for being stacked with too many sovereigntists and not enough federalists. “You have to watch Radio-Canada to see that it's certainly not giving a blank check to the Liberals,” she said. — ICYMI: Yesterday’s PMO headache — courtesy of DANIEL LEBLANC and LOUIS BLOUIN — about the prime minister’s luxury Jamaican getaway. — Fury and fundraising: The people that care about this issue, care about it deeply, and are on the center right, said Summa Strategies vice chair KATE HARRISON. “Frankly, they're willing to kind of put their money where their mouth is.” It’s a rallying point for the party’s grassroots. Defunding the CBC is a legacy issue for Conservatives; the arguments aren’t unique to Poilievre. A turning point was the CBC’s lawsuit against the Conservative party during the 2019 election, which she said “left a very sour taste” for a lot of partisans. The broadcaster sued the party over the use of copyright-protected video clips in partisan ads. Where the political strategy gets trickier is how it plays out in Quebec, a vote-rich region that supports publicly funded broadcasting — and where TVA is Rad-Can’s only real competitor because of its French-language programming. Polievre likened the CBC to “state media” when he wrote to ELON MUSK to ask the Twitter owner to pin “government-funded media” to the outlet’s English handles. Harrison believes a burn-it-to-the-down approach to the CBC debate is unlikely, given that the broadcaster’s radio programming connects remote citizens and communities. — C$1.24-billion question: Though other media outlets have taken government funds, the CBC and its journalists are the biggest target because the broadcaster receives the most funding. Postmedia, for comparison, received C$64.9 million from the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. The political reality is that sharp rhetoric drives headlines and fundraising — the details can be left for later. “It's easier to start with the most firm position, and then a hardline position, and then figure out the nuance when you're in government,” Harrison said. — Outside Ottawa: PETER MANSBRIDGE’s advice for CBC journalists: Stay out of it. Mansbridge stressed that he’s no longer a CBC employee. “I’m just a pensioner,” he said, calling Playbook from Scotland, where he journeyed to a spot overlooking the North Sea. His guidance reflects a dogma he’s followed in his work in news. “It's like any other story,” the former CBC News chief correspondent said. “If you're covering the story, you lay out the facts, put them in context. You let the viewers decide for themselves how they want to feel about whatever the individual story is.” Debate about the CBC is a good thing, he said, especially since more than a billion dollars of the public’s money funds its operations. It should be accountable for every dollar, he said. But the narrative that the public broadcaster is run by the state and that its journalists are government hacks is a “ridiculous” claim. “Anybody who's lived in a country or traveled to a country where there are state broadcasters knows the difference,” he said. — American graffiti: Mansbridge, a history buff, wove in a reminder that the CBC was created under Conservative prime minister R.B. BENNETT in the 1930s in response to concerns American programming would influence the country through broadcasting signals. “And many of those reasons to be concerned still exist today,” Mansbridge said before dropping some big-picture questions. “If you're gonna kill the CBC, what are you gonna do?” he asked. “What's going to be in its place? Anything? Does the country need anything, in terms of a national broadcaster that is mandated to deliver Canadian content to Canadians in every part of the country? I think that discussion is important to have.” This isn’t the first time the CBC is the story du jour, he said, adding it will blow over. “It’s like everything else, it doesn’t last long.” Like Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who’d like to start the day with a free rush of intel. Point them to this link where sign up is free. | 
