A Dream Betrayed

Abstract

Tony Manera: A Dream Betrayed: The Battle for the CBC. Toronto: Stoddart, 1996, 224pp. CAD 27.95. 8 pp. b&w photo insert. ISBN: 0-7737-2980-1. THE trials and tribulations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- mostly self-inflicted over the years -- drag tiresomely on. Two books, The Dream Betrayed by Tony Manera, and Cue the Elephant! by Knowlton Nash, paint opposite sides of the dream. Manera's book is depressing in the extreme while Nash's book is light-hearted to the point of becoming light-headed. Tony Manera, formerly with the CBC for ten years mainly on the engineering and technical side, became President of the Corporation in February 1994 and resigned a year later when the government reduced the CBC's parliamentary appropriations after having assured him, when he accepted the position, of its "undying political and financial support". Having given his word to the staff of the CBC that there would be no more...