Heritage minister pitches CBC/Radio-Canada overhaul and a major funding hike [Video]

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced Thursday a plan to overhaul CBC/Radio-Canada to shore up an institution she said is “at a critical crossroads” but one that is necessary as the country faces American threats to its sovereignty.

While pitching a program that is unlikely to be enacted by the current government given the likelihood of a federal election sometime soon, St-Onge said American “billionaire tech oligarchs” are tightening their grip on the flow of information and Canada needs to revive its nearly century-old public broadcaster to “tell our own stories,” saying it’s a “national security issue” that so much of what Canadians consume is generated elsewhere.

“More than ever it’s important to rely on our own sources of information — made by and for Canadians,” she said.

“CBC will never be controlled by Musk or Zuckerberg. It will never belong to billionaire tech oligarchs. It will always belong to the …