Friends of the CBC

via Tom Paton

Dear friends in Western Nova Scotia,
For your information---- regarding this serious threat by Harper to eliminate the CBC and to further americanize Canadian broadcasting. The fact that Harper is attacking our CBC shows, ironically, how important it is as one channel for keeping our Canadian democracy alive.
I hope that we can make this larger issue---our support,federally and provincially and locally, of viable democratic freedoms---- an important one during the debates here in this SW Nova Riding during any election that comes up.
I hope many will join this effort. Kindly pass this on...
Cheers,
Tom
Tom Haynes-Paton

Dear Rev. Thomas,
Thank you very much for signing the “I Love CBC” petition!
Here's an update on the campaign:
Ever since Dean Del Mastro, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, floated a dangerous trial-balloon about "getting out of the broadcasting business", the response from Canadians has been clear - "Keep your hands off our CBC!"
Since we launched the petition on December 13, over 52,000 proud Canadians have stood together and signed their names!
Dean Del Mastro was recently afforded an opportunity to renounce his comments on a Peterborough news report. He didn't. Instead, using what could be described as typical Harper bully tactics, he attacked our campaign and allowed his original comments stand.
The battle ahead will be fierce. Stephen Harper has long held a simmering animosity towards the CBC which FRIENDS has tracked over many years. Now, with the country facing a deficit, Del Mastro's musings could forewarn that the Conservatives are planning to dismantle our public broadcaster piece by piece.
We believe the threat posed by Harper could be the most serious peril CBC has ever faced. Canadians who love the CBC are mobilizing – and so are we!
The online petition is just the first phase of our campaign. The petition signatures will be taken to Parliament Hill as an indicator of the support CBC enjoys from Canadians. We will also be presenting the names of signers from each federal riding to their own Member of Parliament. In the new year, our efforts will focus on building a wide coalition of support for public broadcasting leading into an anticipated spring election.
I don't need to tell you what is at stake. But I do want to share with you the words of one FRIENDS supporter who wrote this about what the CBC means to him:
“Listening to CBC helps me stay in contact with other parts of the country, and links the people of other regions to my life here in Alberta. C'est la Vie refreshes my French knowledge, Q with Jian Ghomeshi brings me interviews with some of our best artists, The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti in-depth reporting on news items, and Ideas expands my own mind and creativity. Stuart McLean makes me laugh, David Suzuki and the Nature of Things teaches me responsibility, Tapestry lifts my spirit.”
If you haven't already done so, I ask you to please share the "I Love CBC" petition with your email contacts, on your Facebook, and tweet about it on Twitter.
Thank you again for your support of public broadcasting. I'll keep you posted on our progress.
The fight has just begun.
Yours sincerely,

Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting
P.S. Working together as a network of concerned citizens, FRIENDS has already prevented disastrous changes to the CBC. We stopped a plan for advertising on CBC Radio; we have demonstrated broad public support for the CBC through our public opinion research; and we blew the whistle on Harper's secret plan hatched during the 2008 election to make disabling cuts to CBC's budget.
P.P.S. FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog for Canadian programming and is not affiliated with any broadcaster or political party. We are funded entirely by individual citizens and families that care about the future of public broadcasting, Canadian programs and Canadian cultural sovereignty.