CBC's big Dick

Why do Canadian cultural institutions constantly insist on hiring toxic bureaucrats who know very little about Canadian culture?

CBC in its finite wisdom six years ago hired Richard Stursberg - the man who nearly destroyed Telefilm because he was interested solely in making the place an American cloning device. It may have ended up being a financially viable idea, except the decision-makers responsible decided to green-light absolute clap-trap - devoid of any indigenous character whatsoever. They were expensive movies with cardboard actors, generic plots, and huge financial losses. Telefilm finally got rid of him, as did CBC just a month ago, for similar reasons.

Stursberg became hated by virtually every employee of the CBC because of his smugness, weird non-sequiturs, and for making Peter Mansbridge stand up while reading the news.

His other accomplishments include:

- a bitter 7 week lockout during his second year
- the loss of the broadcasting contract for the Olympics
- the loss of the broadcasting contract for the Grey Cup
- the loss of the broadcasting contract for curling
- the loss of the Hockey Night in Canada theme song
- the complete revamping of Radio 2 which has lost 20% of its faithful fan base
- the complete revamping of CBC Newsworld which has lost viewers to CTV
- sold off 1000 hours of CBC programming assets to foreign distributors

Ian Morrison, a spokesman for the watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, says Stursberg was appointed "as a complete outsider" with no previous radio or television production, scheduling or marketing experience.

In fact, Stursberg didn't even know that CBC had a radio station when he accepted the job...until he pretty much destroyed it.

He was most likely chosen because he is the son of famed foreign correspondent - Peter Stursberg - who ran around the world, reporting back to Canada, but hardly living here. That means little Ricky didn't grow up with 'Friendly Giant' & 'Don Messer's Jubilee' and doesn't give a rat's ass about what makes this country distinctive from the States.

So now Head Honcho of CBC - lawyer and sports colour commentator, Hubert Lacroix - has dismissed Richard Stursberg, saying: "We are in the midst of developing a new strategic plan that will guide CBC/Radio-Canada through the next five years. This is the opportune time to bring new leadership...." meaning, the CBC has no idea what direction it's taking, as long as it's not Richard Stursberg's.

Gosh, Telefilm could have told Lacroix that seven years ago. But at least Stursberg was savvy enough to buy 'Jeopardy' and 'Wheel of Fortune.' Fortunately, Alex Trebek just happens to be a Ukrainian-Canadian from Sudbury.