Thanks to a reader, we have this news concerning CBC chairman Guy Fournier:
CBC chairman Guy Fournier has resigned after controversial comments he made about bestiality and bowel movements.
Heritage Minister Bev Oda made the announcement today during question period in the House of Commons.
Fournier, 75, became the target of anger and criticism in recent days after falsely claiming in a French-language magazine article that Lebanon permits bestiality, and for granting a lengthy interview on the joys of bowel movements.
Fournier, a well-known playwright and producer, apologized Sunday on French-language television but it was too late.
Oda told the Commons that Fournier, who was appointed by the previous Liberal regime to a five-year term last September, "has increasingly lost the confidence of Canada's new government."
The minister said she received Fournier's "voluntary resignation" effective immediately.
I think the Coservatives were happy to have Fournier in place as an example of what is wrong with the CBC. Now that Fournier is gone, what will the government do? If the government is planning a major shake-up or downsizing of the CBC in the medium or long term, then an interim chairman can hold the fort, and expect no new appointment anytime soon. On the other hand, if the Conservatives are ready to pull the plug on the CBC, they will have to put someone in place at the top who is committed to those goals, and who has the strength to hold out against all the people under him or her at the CBC who will be resisting the Tory plan (whatever that turns out to be).
Fournier's resignation was not engineered by the government. He did it to himself. So the trick will be to make an opportunity out of this unplanned event.
Is something regarding the CBC coming down soon? I don't know, but the phrasing of the minister's statement is interesting. Fournier has "increasngly lost the confidence" of the government. Should we read this to mean that the government has increasingly lost the confidence in the CBC as a whole? Fournier's troubles only started September 9. A week and a bit is a short time to "increasingly" lose confidence. It's not like this was a news-dominating controversy. It could happen, of course, but I have to think Minister Oda is refering to a longer period of time, and to something more than just Fournier's thoughts on the legal status bestiality and on enjoyable bowel movements.
Update: CBC News reports that the acting chairman will be CBC president Robert Rabinovich. He'll hold that post until such time as Prime Minister Stephen Harper appoints a replacement.
