With U.S. President Donald Trump making 91裸聊视频渢erritorial claims,91裸聊视频� the new head of CBC says defunding the public broadcaster could erode a pillar of Canada91裸聊视频檚 cultural identity.

Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CEO of CBC-Radio-Canada, is calling for a 91裸聊视频渘ational conversation91裸聊视频� on the Conservative promise to defund, and is launching a tour to get it started.

She made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press, covering defunding, controversy over executive bonuses and the CBC91裸聊视频檚 digital offerings.

Bouchard said it91裸聊视频檚 important for Canadians to be equipped with the facts about the likely impacts of stripping away CBC91裸聊视频檚 funding for English-language services.

She said they should consider how it would affect 91裸聊视频渘ot only the service that we provide but also the existence, sometimes the viability, of a lot of other pieces of our economy from a cultural and journalistic perspective and how that would help Canadians as they face the world today.91裸聊视频�

That includes 91裸聊视频渄iscussions about tariffs, discussions about maybe territorial claims by the new American president.91裸聊视频�

She questioned whether it would help Canada to take away 91裸聊视频渢hat component of our identity.91裸聊视频�

Bouchard said she91裸聊视频檚 also 91裸聊视频渘ot sure we91裸聊视频檙e having that conversation at the level that we should be having at this point, as we progress towards an election in 2025.91裸聊视频�

Asked whether she plans to initiate that conversation, Bouchard said she91裸聊视频檚 appearing at a production industry conference later this week. 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 the first piece of the plan to initiate these conversations,91裸聊视频� she said.

After that, Bouchard will tour Western Canada to engage with business and civic leaders, industry representatives, CBC audiences and employees.

She said the Conservative pledge to cut a billion dollars from CBC91裸聊视频檚 government funding and maintain only francophone news wouldn91裸聊视频檛 work because there wouldn91裸聊视频檛 be enough money left to run a viable French-language service.

91裸聊视频淐utting a billion dollars out of the CBC appropriation would cripple both English and French services,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not possible mathematically to come to the conclusion that you can siphon out a billion dollars 91裸聊视频� and think that we can remain intact.91裸聊视频�

Bouchard said there are also other people she expects to take a public position on the impact of defunding. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a matter of values to some extent, but it91裸聊视频檚 also a matter of concrete impact, economic and otherwise.91裸聊视频�

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge recently said Elon Musk91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频渕eddling91裸聊视频� in politics and recent changes at Meta to eliminate fact-checking make the pledge to defund even more consequential.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a recent interview with the Toronto Sun he would be 91裸聊视频渧ery quick91裸聊视频� to follow through on his promise if he was elected to government.

He argued the English media market in Canada is big enough to sustain itself without a public broadcaster, but that isn91裸聊视频檛 true for the French-language market.

91裸聊视频淟et the media make money by winning eyeballs and earlobes like it should be in a free country,91裸聊视频� he said.

In 2023-24, CBC/Radio-Canada received $1.44 billion from the federal government and generated $493.5 million in revenue.

Damien Kurek, the Conservative critic for Canadian Heritage, said in a statement Wednesday that Poilievre has been having a 91裸聊视频渘ational conversation91裸聊视频� with Canadians about defunding the CBC for years.

91裸聊视频淐ommon sense Conservatives will defund the CBC while preserving funding to ensure francophone Canadians continue to receive news services,91裸聊视频� Kurek said.

The Conservatives have also been attacking the public broadcaster over executive bonuses.

The CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors approved over $18.4 million in bonuses for nearly 1,200 employees, managers and executives for the 2023-24 fiscal year after the broadcaster eliminated hundreds of jobs. Bouchard91裸聊视频檚 predecessor, Catherine Tait, came under fire over the issue, including for not ruling out accepting a bonus herself.

In the interview, Bouchard did not say she would refuse to accept a bonus, saying the conversation has not been about her.

She said the issue will 91裸聊视频渃ome to a conclusion in the next couple of months91裸聊视频� when she receives the report of an independent study that was commissioned on the question.

91裸聊视频淚 will be discussing with the board what is the way forward, to consider all the elements and come up with a plan.91裸聊视频�

Asked why she wouldn91裸聊视频檛 proactively refuse a bonus to deflate the criticism, Bouchard said she wants to get to the 91裸聊视频渞oot of the problem.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚 think the bigger issue is that we made a promise as an organization that we would look at our performance pay program based on expert advice, and that we would come to a determination 91裸聊视频� how to go forward, and that is the short-order issue that I want to get at.91裸聊视频�

CBC has invested in digital offerings like its CBC Gem service to offset industry-wide declines in traditional broadcasting.

Bouchard said in order to keep Canadians subscribing, it91裸聊视频檚 important to make sure those services meet their expectations, such as having a flexible model where those who are watching for free are served advertisements, but those ads aren91裸聊视频檛 shown to paid subscribers.

91裸聊视频淚t also is important to provide them with an environment that is personalized,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a matter of quality of the experience that we91裸聊视频檙e offering and we want to stay current with other platforms that are giving viewers that flexibility.91裸聊视频�