The CBC should decentralize decisions over program content and creation to local and regional stations across Canada, who should be accountable to the local audiences; due to repeated budget cuts, much of this activity has been centralized in Toronto. CBC resources and decision-making should be distributed across the country to better represent regional diversity.

Smaller media and cultural organizations like the Tyee, OpenFile, community newspapers and websites, local radio stations, and independent media producers, which draw talent and content from their own communities should be collaborators with a new part of the CBC—the Canadian Broadcasting Collaboration—that has a specific mission to collaborate, share and promote the best content. CBC should work closely with citizens and independent media groups to give the best content both local and national platforms.

A show of regional and local content that showcases the best of our courage and conscience in action, sharing how individuals and groups are working on projects to bring positive change to our country. We find and cover the committed Canadians who are solving problems, connecting us to the creative geniuses with great ideas who have started homegrown initiatives to fix broken systems. Covering these initiatives would deepen discussions about important issues that need to be addressed for our country to move forward.

CBC and local libraries could work together on conversation forums that provide a local space for gathering and sharing. These conversation forums would invite federal and provincial politicians into conversation with expert guests with knowledge about local issues of concern, facilitated by a smart, well-prepared moderator. Citizens would be able to have a representative as well by registering for the event and by passing a vetting process. All conversation would be civil with the goal to illuminate the issues not to score points politically or to move hidden agendas forward. A weekly show could sample the best from these local forums.

During a new weekly program, or a current show like Power and Politics, review the top five new laws being debated or passed by governments across the country picked by the audience in advance. Interview supporters and opponents, or review Question Period in the House, showing the questions asked about the law and the answers given by governments, provide an explanation or clarification of the issue(s) implicit in those questions and answers, a presentation of the research relevant to the questions and answers, and sample audience comments and input. Emulate BBC-style panel shows with witty debate on current issues. Have a skilled moderator who understands the rules of informed debate, like the practice of disallowing fallacies. Compare the voting from the previous week by the politicians with that of the audience.

CBC News (The National in particular) should illuminate all the dark corners of society so the public is well informed about vested interests & abuses of power, including covering "under-reported" stories to bring important issues back under the scrutiny of the public. The national news should not need to cater to advertisers. CBC needs first-rate journalists, an excellent research team, and the guts to stand up to political and corporate pressures with unflinching, intelligent analysis. Hold governments to task for their rhetoric, and make sure viewers know when reporters are stone-walled and ignored. Viewers could text/email/phone in their ideas for the subjects of shows, so the producers know what is important and interesting to the public. The news should be available for free online through a variety of outlets such as videos on YouTube and easily searchable. Let it be the forum for fostering dialogue, a bastion of democracy, and a clear voice for the Canadian people.

The true heart of CBC is radio—CBC Radio provides best value per dollar invested, and it should not be cut in favor of more expensive CBC TV. Hotels and highways should have prominent indicators of the local CBC frequency, so Canadians and travelers can feel connected to our national media. Keep the AM signal, and keep investing in satellite radio (Sirius) and online audio to continue innovating in this important medium at local stations, on the national radio network and online. Focus on good quality programming and excellent reporting from around the world. Work with other national public radio, including NPR and the BBC, to showcase innovations in audio programming.

CBC should create an online virtual classroom, a “University of the Airwaves,” that presents educational programming and offers degree credit, in the likes of the New York Times Journalism Courses or Designboom.com's digital design aerobics classes. A few media studies courses (Understanding How Media Works) could be free, and other classes or groupings could be offered leading to certificate programs. Courses could range from community needs, "Media for Your Organization" or "Creating Buzz for Events" or they could be more playful such as, "Start Your Own Local Kids Show". There is so much talent at the CBC that could be shared.

Allow audiences to cut cable and satellite providers out of the mix so they can access programming through more direct means, and seize the opportunities of the digital transition: (1) Create a Netflix-style template including live-streamed content for more popular broadcasts on set schedules and access to archived CBC programs, to make more programming available 24/7 over the net; (2) Permit the use of old CBC transmission towers in rural areas to create new media hubs that offer free CBC, community television services, and broadband internet to rural people, to close the digital divide; (3) Allow television broadcasters to offer multiple channels from one tower, so Canadians can access more CBC services over-the-air for free without needing a cable or satellite provider.

The CBC must retain and strengthen its primary purpose: to be our national, public media that provides content that the private sector does not, with uniquely Canadian coverage of news, arts, and culture. More than ever we need the CBC to focus on Canadian content, not necessarily always by producing original content, but by purchasing and airing more Canadian independent productions, tapping into the NFB archives, filming Canadian plays and concerts, etc. CBC should reach out to newcomers to Canada, and find ways to help them adjust to life here and improve their language skills.

Annual On-The-Air and Online Independent Canadian Film Festival that runs for a week with Youth (11-17) and Adult (18+) categories, those categories being Comedy, Drama, and Documentary, with separate length categories of Bit (30 second to 2 min.) Short (3-4 min), Medium (5-10 min.), and Regular (10-30 min.). Filmmakers post their films to the website, and people vote them up. The top five of each are then put into a film festival that happens live, on the air at the end of that week. Filmmakers who make popular content should be paid. Public media should support risky new ideas coming from Canadian filmmakers, writers, and actors.

Create a TV and web show, possibly a new late night show, that shines a light on the musical talent that is happening in our country, with a host, live music, an audience, current events, and a mixture of top music stars and independent acts. It should talk about the music scene from province to province, and music from diverse communities throughout Canada. In the summer, when there are hundreds of music festivals across the country, some of them could be recorded and broadcast as well.

The archives need to be opened up more and made more available to the public through a library of footage that would be available to browse online, which would include the back catalogue of concerts the CBC has recorded and broadcast. The content could also be made available to the public via exhibitions (the CBC could invite experts to guest-curate!). Scholars, teachers, and film-makers need an easier way to get permission to use the publicly-funded archive. For content that cannot be made completely public, it should be clear whose permission is needed in order to use any copyrighted footage, music, etc., and what it will cost to do so; the CBC should also encourage greater use of Creative Commons licensing. These archives could then be used to expand the "CBC Retro" YouTube Channel of the best content from the CBC’s past.

Instead of relegating children and youth to the back of the CBC priority list, renew youth programming by engaging young creators to participate and show their work, both on television and in other media. Focus on creating other ways to engage youth in the CBC, including a youth representative on the Board of Directors, a short story contest for young Canadians, and hiring procedures that invite young people into an open CBC. The CBC should seek out original ideas from bright new minds that are truly in tune with the present, for imaginative entertainment that young people and people young at heart can gravitate to.

CBC needs to find the best of citizen-produced content on the web. A VoterMedia.org style contest could allocate public funds to competing blogs, with CBC republishing content from blogs that provide investigative journalism that is beneficial to the public. There needs to be a platform that encourages independent journalism, gives voices to marginalized groups, and fosters linkages among communities. Less energy and resources could be devoted to big CBC personalities and more to quality content. Look at ways the Wikipedia model can be applied to the CBC. First-rate journalists will be even more necessary—journalists with years of experience and the resources of national media can provide the historical background, analysis, and balance that we depend on, and make use of citizen journalist input to provide ideas, balance, and accountability.

Go to each province or territory to find, name, explore, expand our knowledge and awareness of every tribe and relay in story and picture the culture and heritage found there. We should all show the respect that is due. We can reimagine the CBC more by reimagining ourselves; perhaps by letting go of our past hurts or concerns, and truly becoming brothers and sisters.

Highlight weekly lists of the in-depth stories that no other Canadian media covers: a dual purpose feature that can provide people with links to audio-archives/podcasts, but also let people know how crucial the CBC is to maintaining democracy and an informed citizenry. Greater emphasis on and investment in the non-fictional, informative aspects of the CBC such as The Fifth Estate, The Current, As It Happens, Quirks & Quarks, Spark, and documentaries. Let the debate and information come from those truly informed: known speakers in industries, universities, think tanks, and Government Departments. Report from multiple perspectives, including the voices of youth, the marginalized, and others who are underrepresented. Celebrate and recognize that the CBC provides more than a 30-second soundbyte—cover what Health Canada is doing to protect our food supply; explain to the average Canadian why gasoline prices fluctuate as they do; conduct “environmental impact inquiries” into every day’s news to expose how it will impact the environment; investigate safety in Canada’s prisons; cover the impact on the average Canadian of government cutbacks, etc. Expand in-depth reporting, and don’t become like the other watered-down media outlets.

Programmes and stories about our remarkable queer history. LGBT Canadians have made incredible contributions to this country's past, and are playing a leading role in securing a caring, diverse, and equal future for us all. But unfortunately, we have very few outlets for those stories. Even major Canadian cities only have one or two major LGBT papers, and most communities across the country have even less coverage. Those few outlets, further, tend to under-perform when it comes to tackling issues, serving the public interest, and putting our stories before advertising dollars. More programmes about what it means to be LGBT or Queer in Canada today—stories about the LGBT community from every corner of the country.