Vive Le Canada

CBC Worth Fighting For

Posted on Friday, October 31 at 15:58 by sthompson
Democratic countries around the world, including France, Italy, Belgium, Britain, Australia, and even the United States believe that public broadcasting has a role to play in their sense of nationhood. The case is even stronger for Canada, a country sharing borders with the world's superpower. And, indeed, many Canadians do recognize the importance of having our own voice heard: In a recent survey, 9 in 10 responded in support of CBC/Radio-Canada.

And yet, this spring, $50-million over two years was cut from the Canadian Television Fund, one week before CBC finalized its budget for the year. Last month, mid-year, an additional $10-million cut to CBC/Radio-Canada was confirmed. In fact, from the time I was working in the studio in the early 1990s until today, while our services to Canadians have multiplied, CBC's parliamentary appropriation, in constant dollars, has dropped by $319-million.

Full article: The CBC is worth fighting for

Note: The CBC is worth fighti...

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  1. by Anonymous
    Sat Nov 01, 2003 2:23 am
    We send Clarkson for a merry jaunt across the world to promote Canada then claim in the same breath there is not enough money for the CBC?!

    To quote the boys from Rage - I hear the faint sound of fighting in the streets...

  2. by Anonymous
    Sat Nov 01, 2003 3:11 am
    CBC at it\'s best is worth fighting for, unfortunately it has been eroded over the years, and is controlled by the governing party more and more. Not only should we be fighting for funding we should be fighting for unbiased content. Also real news, the news that Canadians do care about, not only what\'s going on to the south, but all the issues facing Canada.

  3. by Dave Ruston
    Mon Nov 03, 2003 1:28 am
    Thing is, corporations and rich people have received tax cuts while average joes like me are taxed more than ever. Yet when you look at the amount of tax revenue still raked in by our government, and then see exactly where they`ve made cuts to funding, be it health care, post secondary education, the military, or institutions like the CBC, it just makes you wonder where all this money is going? Obviously, they`re living it up at our expense! Look at the increase in the budget the Governor-General is now allotted, and look at how Jane Stewart mysteriously \'lost\' 1 billion dollars of our money! Look at Sheila Copps saying to the people,\" I don`t have to tell you where I spent the 80 grand.\" There`s no vision from this government for the building of Canada. They`re only lining their own pockets while they tear it down and hand it over to the USA and the transnationals! Realistically, there`s enough wealth and resources in this country that NOBODY should have to go without! But in the \'Roaring 90`s\' where all we heard about is the grand boom and unprecedented growth that apparently happened in our economy, this so called new found wealth did not find its way to the majority of Canadians or to our cherished social programs. Quite the opposite happened, where we saw a merciless gutting of health care, and a decline in the majority of people`s wages!

    ---
    Dave Ruston

  4. by beltaine
    Sat Nov 08, 2003 12:30 pm
    I, for one, remember back when the liberals made a promise to not cut CBC funding. Anyone else remember all the \"the CBC promise: KEEP IT\" stickers? Seen them lately? The text, much like the promise itself, has just kindof faded away. Almost poetic, really.

    Of course, there were also promises to scrap the GST, allow free votes in parliment, renegotiate NAFTA, and restore faith in government.



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