CBC’s news should be assessed by outside experts for fairness, senators say in report

OTTAWA — A Senate committee report says CBC-Radio-Canada’s news and current affairs content should be periodically analyzed by outside experts “in order to assess its fairness and balance.”

The Senate’s transport and communications committee released a report called “Local News Matters” today after hearing from more than 60 witnesses.

It calls for local programming to be added to CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate and for the government to provide stable, multi-year funding for local programming.

In the federal budget, the Liberal government included a $150 million funding increase for CBC/Radio-Canada.

Under the Trudeau government, then-heritage minister Pascale St-Onge released a plan to modernize the mandate of the public broadcaster that would bar it from running ads during news.

While the Carney government has said its plans for CBC/Radio-Canada include looking at getting Canada into the Eurovision international song contest, it has not moved to update the broadcaster’s mandate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press