52fd2842-fcae-4b97-86bf-3d521eca5e7f.png

Liberals release details of budget cuts made in 2012, including several made at CBC

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor Information released by the Liberal government on Feb. 19 details $115 million in cuts to the CBC along with several other services. Budgets for sports programming were scaled back by $2.2 million, and specialty and main news services were reduced by $3 million. The $115 million in cuts over three years were…

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor

Information released by the Liberal government on Feb. 19 details $115 million in cuts to the CBC along with several other services.

Budgets for sports programming were scaled back by $2.2 million, and specialty and main news services were reduced by $3 million.

The $115 million in cuts over three years were announced in March 2012, as part of budget cuts made by the Conservative government. According to the CBC, the broadcaster said at the time that the cuts would be done in a way that wouldn’t compromise local coverage.

The company has cut over 1,000 jobs since the 2012 cuts were announced.

Also among the reductions under the purview of the Department of Canadian Heritage were $200 million to the National Translation Fund. A total of $186 million was cut from the department, as part of budget cuts first announced in 2012.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, who ended his term in 2013, fought a public fight with the Conservative government to have this information released, eventually going to court over the matter.

H.G. Watson can be reached at hgwatson@j-source.ca or on Twitter.

H.G. Watson was J-Source's managing editor from 2015 to 2018. She is a journalist based in Toronto. You can learn more about her at hgwatson.com.