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

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

Senators were asked at a press conference Wednesday whether CBC’s coverage is in need of a course correction, or if the recommendation is meant as a preventive measure.

“It could be considered both,” said Conservative Sen. David Wells, who chairs the committee.

“If there’s commentary about the bias of CBC or any news outlet, and that’s a public comment and something that we’ve all heard, then this can not only act as a course correction but our recommendations are forward-looking.

“The intent of that is to ensure that Canadians are well served by an unbiased, federally funded media.”

Wells declined to cite any specific concerns about bias at the broadcaster. He said the senators would like to see independent experts “look at this and to see if there is a drift, and that can be corrected in the future.”

Sen. Donna Dasko, a member of the Independent Senators Group, said the recommendation will help determine whether there is bias in CBC’s news output.

She said she doesn’t think the measure would undermine trust in the public broadcaster.

“I think it is going to be an important way to answer those kinds of comments that are made,” she said.

Conservative critics have long claimed that the CBC is biased. During the last federal election, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre campaigned on defunding the public broadcaster.

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

A spokesperson for CBC/Radio-Canada said it is still reviewing the report and does have any comment at this time. The public broadcaster has an independent ombudsman who determines whether CBC journalists are complying with journalistic standards and practices.

The report also calls for programming aimed at local audiences to be added to CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate and for the government to provide stable, multi-year funding for local programming.

“The Broadcasting Act currently does not state that local audiences should be specifically targeted, nor does it require that particular programming services be provided at the local level,” Dasko said.

In the last 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 have barred 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.

The report also calls for CBC/Radio-Canada to collaborate with private and community media. It says “representatives from both community and private media outlets expressed their willingness to collaborate more with the national public broadcaster. The committee believes that this is a promising avenue that warrants further exploration.”

The senators also say the public broadcaster should examine the role it can play in emergency situations. They recommend that in “remote and isolated areas with limited alternative broadcasters … CBC/Radio-Canada be capable of providing full coverage in the event of an emergency.”

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