B.C. woodworker says CBC cancelled interview after challenging Trump tariff narrative
The CBC is facing its second allegation in as many weeks of shutting out voices critical of the public broadcaster’s editorial framing.
The CBC is facing its second allegation in as many weeks of shutting out voices critical of the public broadcaster’s editorial framing, after a Prince George woodworker says his planned interview on U.S. tariffs was abruptly dropped when he challenged a producer on the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on his industry.
The incident occurred less than one week after True North reported that a CBC journalist had taken the microphone away from a veteran South Asian reporter attempting to ask a question during a town hall on extortion and street crime in Surrey.
In the latest case, woodworker and local advocate James Steidle says in an article published by the Prince George Citizen News that a CBC producer contacted him on October 14 for commentary on Trump’s newest tariffs on wood products.
Steidle, who once exported handmade items to the United States, said the tariffs have little bearing on his business today. Instead, he told the producer that Canada’s domestic market is overwhelmed by low-cost imported wood products from countries such as Vietnam and China.
He said he tried to shift the discussion toward what he sees as the larger structural issue, noting that “we can’t compete with offshore products flooding our own shelves, often cheaper than what it costs to ship the same item from Prince George to Vancouver.”
Steidle also pointed out that former prime minister Justin Trudeau implemented Canada’s own furniture tariffs against Vietnam and China in 2021 — information he says the producer “didn’t seem eager to explore.”
According to Steidle, the producer’s tone shifted after he stated he no longer exports to the U.S.
“He had his out,” Steidle said. “He said the angle I was raising was ‘for another show.’ Then he hung up.”
“Why would the CBC not share both sides of the tariff story?” Steidle asked rhetorically. “Is that because this argument would validate some of Donald Trump’s ideas, even though these aren’t his ideas?”
Steidle argues Canadians deserve a broader conversation about the domestic impacts of offshoring and the decline of value-added wood manufacturing.
“We still have Chilean plywood in Home Depot and condo towers filled with cabinets ordered direct from China,” he said. “Meanwhile, we have a Wood Innovation Centre right here in Prince George that could support Canadian supply chains.”
“This was not journalism,” Steidle wrote of his experience with the public broadcaster. “This was taxpayer-funded propaganda for not just an industry dominated by predatory corporations that do not have our national interest in mind.”
True North sent a request for comment to the CBC but did not receive a reply.