Every once in a while, I'll complain about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

As a part-owner of the public broadcaster, like every other Canadian, that's my right.

For example, just this week I was grumbling about its lacklustre approach to the climate breakdown in comparison to coverage by the U.K.-based Guardian and the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

Sure, The National on CBC has launched a series this week, but that only came after it conducted polling showing that Canadians cared about the issue.

Still, there's none of the passion and urgency about the climate crisis on many CBC shows that you feel when you visit the Guardian website. (Notable exceptions: Quirks & Quarks and The Nature of Things.)

It used to drive me crazy that Rex Murphy, a climate skeptic, hosted Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio One for so many years.

And I sometimes wondered if Peter Mansbridge—who once accepted a speaking fee from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producer—was a closet right winger.

But these irritations with the CBC only reflected my appreciation for the possibilities that a public broadcaster offered the country.

Instead of sometimes aping the private players, I yearned for CBC to aim for something grander.

But every once in a while, CBC strikes exactly the right note.

The Current, its flagship national morning radio show, is a prime example of this. The host, Anna Maria Tremonti, is intelligent, empathetic, inquisitive, and never comes across as an egomaniac.

Open-minded, curious, and compassionate—that's Tremonti.

I've never met her, but you get to know a person when they're in your home on a regular basis through the radio.

This is her last day hosting The Current. After years in the broadcasting trenches, she's going to start doing podcasts.

During Tremonti's 17 years at the helm of The Current, it's been on top of the truly important stories.

That includes the Bush administration's secret "extraordinary rendition" program. This involved kidnapping people suspected of being jihadists and taking them to third countries to be tortured.

Some of the CBC's most informative climate change coverage, including a recent segment on flooding, came on The Current.

The program offered extensive and illuminating insights on the exodus of Syrians from their country—a reflection of Tremonti's years of experience as a foreign correspondent.

I could count on The Current to keep me up date on issues involving Indigenous peoples. It handled the subject of honour killings with intelligence and sensitivity.

It's a serious show that deals with serious issues. There's none of the silly banter so common on TV and radio.

As a listener, I sensed that this is because Tremonti and her producers have wanted to make the most of every single segment. They didn't want to waste listeners' time.

Best of all, The Current is mostly absent of the type of political spin that shows up on so many other programs in public and private radio. That's because politicians are rarely interviewed.

I could go on. The Current isn't nearly as U.S.-centric as the rest of the Canadian media. The Current always puts its most important stories first, which is beneficial for those of us who have to go to work in the morning. And The Current consistently includes wise voices on its panels.

Now, I'll segue to another long-time host on CBC. 

A former bookstore owner and CBC lover once asked me what's going to happen to the CBC when Michael Enright, host of the Sunday Edition, eventually retires. He wanted to know if there would be any Michael Enrights in the future.

It reflected his concern that CBC is losing its intellectual gravitas in this era of Battle of the Blades.

I can understand why he enjoys listening to Enright. That's because the veteran broadcaster delves into areas often unexplored by the rest of the media, like his recent segment on the decline in empathy in modern society. And he loves jazz and classical music.

Plus, the Sunday Edition's documentaries by Ira Basen are simply extraordinary.

But for me, Tremonti is the one CBC radio broadcaster who's shed the most light on stories affecting the most people in the world over the past two decades. She's the heart of CBC Radio.

Her curiosity is on par with other outstanding CBC broadcasters of bygone eras, like Joe Schlesinger, Adrienne Clarkson, and Linden MacIntyre. She's part of the great CBC intellectual tradition.

The bottom line is listeners could trust Tremonti.

For some Canadians, her departure from The Current will be like losing a friend.

So it leaves me wondering: who are the next Anna Maria Tremontis at the CBC?

I can think of a few who might one day be able to match her gravitas, warmth, and curiosity on the radio.

But will the current crop of managers give them an opportunity to serve listeners in the same way that Tremonti did for so many years?

In the era of Battle of the Blades, that remains an open question.