Media union urges CWA Canada members
to vote for pro-CBC parties in federal election
Public broadcasting watchdog tracks Harper's hostility
It is no secret on Parliament Hill and among the mainstream media that Prime Minister Stephen Harper despises the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
In light of that fact, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) is appealing to its own members and those of its parent union, CWA Canada, to consider the federal parties' positions on funding for the CBC when making their ballot choices on May 2.
"What party is in power is of major importance to a vast majority of our members (who work for the CBC)," Lise Lareau, national vice-president of the CMG, told delegates to the National Representative Council meeting in Montreal.
While the CMG does not support or endorse political parties because it represents journalists, the main union at the CBC does ask that its members be informed on where the federal parties stand on funding for the public broadcaster.
In its survey of all federal parties, the CMG found that the Bloc and the Greens support increasing CBC's funding considerably while the NDP merely vows to "maintain the CBC's current levels of funding until Canada's budgetary outlook improves." The Liberals promise "stable and predictable funding" and the Conservatives didn't even answer the Guild's survey.
The CMG described this as a "critical turning point for public broadcasting in Canada. CBC/Radio-Canada is a neglected national institution that has been left largely to fend for itself in a rapidly changing media landscape. Canada remains near the bottom of the list of countries that fund public broadcasting."
The CMG notes that the CBC "sometimes comes under fire from governments and political parties that don't like the way they are covered. In other words, some of the biggest criticism of CBC comes because it does its job well."
"Public broadcasting is an important federal responsibility," says the CMG. "CBC/Radio-Canada has long set high standards for journalism and broadcasting and is a crucial supporter of arts, culture and amateur sport."
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting is running a We're Voting CBC! campaign and asking supporters to vote for the candidate they think would be most likely to back stable funding. The watchdog group has closely monitored public statements by Harper and party faithful.
FRIENDS alerted subscribers to the latest attack on the CBC by a Conservative politician:
"Yesterday afternoon, Conservative Senator Pam Wallin accused the CBC of bias in its coverage of the election. She alleged that the CBC is giving Michael Ignatieff a disproportionate amount of coverage because "the CBC (is) concerned about what will happen with its funding."
"Even though her logic is bizarre — to say the least — this is just the latest expression of hostility towards our national public broadcaster by a senior member of the Conservative government — a Prime Minister Harper-appointed Senator. It is also a potent reminder of just how urgent it is to implement FRIENDS' election strategy to showcase public support for the CBC to politicians from coast to coast to coast."
The message goes on to say:
"Since well before the election of his government in 2006, Mr. Harper has held a grudge against the CBC. According to very reliable sources, the Conservatives had a secret plan to cut CBC funding by $200 million after the last election.
"Only strong public support for the CBC — and the minority Parliament prevented the prime minister from implementing his plan.
"But Senator Wallin's comments yesterday bring it all back. Her words are not only extremely hostile; they are a stark reminder of the plan to harm the CBC that Mr. Harper continues to harbour."