Joseph Handley is the retired Premier of the Northwest Territories, a position he occupied from 2003 to 2007. Throughout his political career in the Northwest Territories, he held many positions, including Minister of Finance; Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development; and Minister of Aboriginal and Intergovernmental Affairs and Housing. Prior to his political involvement, Mr. Handley was Deputy Minister for the Government of Northwest Territories and, before that, a teacher.
George Cooper is — wait for it! — a lawyer. (I know. Who’d have guessed?!) He’s a senior partner in the law firm McInnes Cooper in Halifax and has been involved in a number of academic and professional activities, including serving on the boards of Black Bull Resources, the Canadian National Railway, and the University of King’s College in Halifax. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and is also a former Member of Parliament.

Late last week, the federal government appointed three new members to the CBC Board of Directors. Two of the three have strong ties to the Conservative party.

Opposition MPs claimed the appointments to the CBC Board were part of a larger strategy to fill vacancies on federal Boards in advance of a possible federal election. (Along with 15 judicial appointments, people were appointed to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the CRTC, the Bank of Canada, the National Welfare Council, the Canada Race Relations Foundation and others.)

 Montreal media lawyer Hubert Lacroix will replace Robert Rabinovitch as president and chief executive officer of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Lacroix does have a bit of broadcast experience, having worked for Radio-Canada as a commentator for basketball during the Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1996. He was also a contributor to the Saturday evening sports show Hebdo-Sports on Radio-Canada, where he reported mainly on amateur sports.

The CBC is trying to fill some of the biggest jobs it has – including the one that now belongs to president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch. He’s due to step down later this year after eight controversial years.

The apparent front-runner to succeed him is Sylvain Lafrance, the current vice-president of French services (Radio-Canada).

Simultaneously, another search is under way for a candidate to replace Tony Burman, who left the top news job last month after 35 years with the public broadcaster.

Employees suspect political influence in the appointments process, given that a known Conservative is heading the search team for both positions.

The first poll is by Ipsos-Reid, and asks

Thinking specifically about the CBC…which of the following two statements is closer to your own opinion?

The poll is poorly worded, since the options are not mutually exhaustive. One might think CBC is independent, but it still matters who appoints the Board of Directors. (It reminds me of the get-out-the-vote campaign in West Wing, Season 4, where will changes one kid’s sign from “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, make sure you vote”, to “No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote”).

A similar question was asked in 1999 by a different polling group (Compass); at 35%, the percentage replying “independent” was much lower.