The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is asking for an exemption from new legislation aimed at encouraging public servants to expose wrongdoing. MPs studying the legislation were informed yesterday that the CBC wants the proposed whistleblower law amended so that it no longer applies to the public broadcaster. Opposition MPs asked whether the request is an attempt by the Crown corporation to avoid public scrutiny over how it spends tax dollars. "There's just this traditional sense of, 'Leave us alone. We'll take your money but don't give us any lines of accountability,'" said Conservative MP Paul Forseth. "That's been the comfortable position that they've had for a long time, so in some respects this is a window of accountability. So now I could understand that management would see this as threatening to their previous all-powerful status." Mr. Forseth said the legislation could help reveal instances of misspending or unfair hiring practices at the CBC. "We know historically the CBC, as a hierarchical bureaucracy, has been just as stultifying or brutal as any other bureaucracy," he said. The CBC is opposed to the bill because it classifies its employees as public servants, a term CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald says compromises the independence of CBC journalists and contradicts statements to the contrary in the Broadcasting Act. "If our employees, and particularly our journalists, are perceived as government employees or public servants, it diminishes their independence from government, which in turn undermines their journalistic credibility. Part of their job is reporting on government," he said. The CBC also believes the proposed law will restrict public servants from speaking out to the media, Mr. MacDonald said. "We're concerned that the legislation would force people to go first to a government-appointed person because they're essentially prohibited from going to the media except in extreme cases," he said. The CBC request was quickly rejected by Denis Coderre, President of the Privy Council. "There will be no exemptions until such time the CBC is no longer a Crown corporation," spokesman Mark Dunn said. "They're a taxpayer-funded institution. They're a Crown corporation last time I checked and this bill touches on Crown corporations." The four-page letter from Robert Rabinovitch, president of the CBC, was sent to Alex Himelfarb, the Privy Council Clerk; Jim Judd, the Treasury Board Secretary, and Morris Rosenberg, the deputy minister of justice. It describes the legislation as a "dangerous precedent." "CBC is one of the major sources of information on public affairs in Canada and, in this capacity, must not only be independent of the government but have the appearance of independence and embody fundamental democratic values, particularly freedom of expression and independence of any interference by the government of the day," Mr. Rabinovitch wrote. Government and opposition MPs on the committee questioned the request, given that no other department or Crown corporation will be exempt from the law. "Either everybody's included or everybody's not. It doesn't make much sense to have an exemption," said Alex Shepherd, a Liberal MP. Pat Martin of the New Democratic Party went further, describing the CBC's request as "reprehensible." "Good employers welcome whistleblower legislation. Only employers with something to hide try and avoid whistleblowing legislation," he said. The CBC is offering to create its own internal disclosure system and denied attempting to avoid public scrutiny. "If the question is, 'Do we have anything to hide?' the answer is, 'Absolutely not,' " Mr. MacDonald said.
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