'TIME TO DEFUND': Conservative MPs rip CBC's decision not to air two Oilers playoff games (2024)

Hockey fans tuning in to recent Edmonton Oilers playoff games, including the series-clinching Game 6 of the Western Conference Final, were out of luck if they switched on the CBC.

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The Oilers’ games on Friday and Sunday against the Dallas Stars were nowhere to be found on the national broadcaster and were only televised by Sportsnet, which owns the rights.

While the cable sports channel broadcasts all national games, including the playoffs, the CBC signed an agreement that allows it to show matches as well.

The broadcaster’s decision not to air the games involving the last Canadian team in the Stanley Cup playoffs has Conservative MPs criticizing the call.

Tim Uppal, an Edmonton MP and deputy party leader, said it is time to defund the CBC.

“The Edmonton Oilers are the only Canadian team left in the playoffs,” Uppal posted to X on Monday.

“Despite receiving $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars this year, CBC decided not to air the Oilers games. Instead, CBC aired a Just For Laughs replay. It’s time to defund the CBC.”

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Laila Goodridge, a fellow Conservative MP from Alberta, echoed Uppal and lambasted the decision not to air the games.

“The CBC has broadcasted the NHL playoffs every year since 1973, so why won’t the Toronto CBC execs bother to air the Oilers’ crucial games as they look to bring the Cup home to Canada for the first time since 1993?” Goodridge asked on social media.

“It’s time to defund the CBC,” she added.

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Longtime columnist Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette, a Postmedia newspaper, ripped the CBC and its CEO Catherine Tait for dropping the ball on one of the most exciting teams to watch this spring.

“The CBC had the puck on its stick in the crease with a wide-open net,” Todd wrote. “All it would have taken was a wee tap-in for a goal.”

A CBC spokesperson defended the programming decision, saying the broadcaster had months in advance scheduled the Canadian Screen Awards gala and a rerun of Just For Laughs to air May 31 and Canada’s Ultimate Challenge — a cross-country obstacle course competition — on Sunday evenings, both the nights the Oilers played.

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has campaigned on defunding the CBC to save taxpayer dollars and ensure a free and competitive press in the Canadian media landscape.

A poll earlier this year by Spark Advocacy showed about a quarter (24%) of respondents want the broadcaster shut down, while 35% said they want a CBC but with a lot of changes.

The rest (41%) said the CBC is important and should continue doing what it’s doing.

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