Shirley Douglas blasts CBC as she picks up lifetime achievement award

Shirley Douglas was recognized by friends, family and fans last evening during an ACTRA celebration in Toronto.

The star of stage and screen was honoured by the Toronto branch of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists with a lifetime achievement award.

Before receiving her award from Rick Mercer, Douglas made the case for change in the Canadian TV industry.

"CBC is in my line of fire," the Canadian Press quotes the actress as saying. "I just cannot believe that that company has not recognized that they need name recognition. And I used to be told long ago that one of the reasons they didn’t is that they were afraid we would become well-known and then want more money. And I don’t know what the reason is, but even to this day there’s a poster for ‘Heartland’ with that poor woman standing there with the horse (and) miles of blue sky to write everyone’s name on. You don’t know even (know): Is it a car company? What is it?”

Douglas made the same case earlier in the week when she appeared on Global’s morning show. "Every country in the world has incredible talent," she said Thursday, "but you’ve got to recognize it and you’ve got to develop it [and] look after it or it will go away."