The politics of CBC governance
While its programming and content are widely consumed, less is known about who is actually in charge of Canada’s national public broadcaster.
The process for appointing Directors to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors has been highly politicized and has courted controversy for decades. FRIENDS has led national grassroots advocacy efforts to end political interference in the governance and management of the CBC, most recently in response to the appointments made by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. While significant progress has been made since that time, obstacles continue to stand in the way of real independence for Canada’s public broadcaster.
All twelve members of the CBC's current Board of Directors were selected and appointed using a system introduced in 2017 by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, drawing from a pool of candidates identified by a special Advisory Committee. The final decision on Board appointments is made by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Directors come from across Canada, however, there is at most regional representation, rather than provincial representation. The Board is comprised of Anglophones and Francophones; four of the current Directors are from Quebec; seven of the current Directors are female; one Director is Indigenous.
In 2017, following pressure from FRIENDS, the Liberal government created The Independent Advisory Committee for Appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors to identify candidates for appointment to the Board. The Advisory Committee is comprised of nine members representing francophones from Quebec, Indigenous people, youth, and professionals from Canada’s broadcasting and cultural sectors. While they are supposed to be independent, Members of the committee are named by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Additionally, the Chairperson and each Member of the Advisory Committee receive mandate letters from the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Steven Guilbeault
Minister of Canadian Heritage
As Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault holds the keys to the CBC/Radio-Canada. The Minister is the person ultimately responsible for the public broadcaster, and while he acts on the advice of an Advisory Council, he makes the final decision on appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors. In order to protect CBC/Radio-Canada’s independence, a body for appointing Directors should be entirely insulated from the Minister’s partisan influence.