What Do You Call A $200 Million Cut To CBC Funding?

Thanks Kate, I just did the same.

Assuming it's even true.  This has all of the hallmarks of one of those famous "We've got insider info on the hidden agenda of those evil wicked mean and nasty Conservatives!"

Gotta inflame their support base, after all.  Even if it's by promulgating a story about funding cuts that, given the present hysteria in the Central Canadian MSM surrounding the CPC's "inflammatory" budgeting procedures which led to the "coalition crisis," is likely to be utterly false...

I customized and sent one, too. I suggested they go the PBS route and have them funded by viewers.

I half suspect, though, that the superFRIENDS will intercept the message and replace my customized response with one that is more palatable to them.

I wonder if I can get the Honourable Mr. Flaherty to confirm to me what my e-mail said?

My MP has his office right next to mine so I know him quite well. I will make sure to tell him about this e-mail that he going to receive from me through FRIENDS. I will let you know if it says anything other than "I would like you to use your influence to make sure that cuts to the CBC continue until it either had to sink or swim on its own."

I sent off a good message, too.

Their media is definitely their message. Their Liberal message. It needs to be stopped.

So every private media company in North America is slashing jobs and the CBC wants a raise?

Mr Morrison say's in his statement that An Over Whelming Majority support the CBC!

Would that be the same Over welming majority that supports a Coalition Govt?

hip hip hooray.

CBCpravda will start a Cry, Bi tch ,Complain marathon till the new year , then maybe start a funding marathon like PBS, using old Junior Forest Rangers , Razzle Dazzle, Beachcomber and whats that PEI thingy, oh yeah, The Wind up my Arse.

I think the CPC should find the "reliable and confidential source" and fire his or her ass for divulging what are probably confidential decisions made by cabinet.

Of course, that would not be a portion of the report by reporters of the CBC who can see the spots at the trough getting smaller and smaller... I mean the only room left at the trough will be for Peter and a few select friends.

They should thank God (yes, I do mean God) for Hockey Night in Canada and Don Cherry, the only means of making real money left on the CBC!

$200 million hacked from the noble CBC budget? By the detestable Mr. Harper and his torch-waving rednecked villagers from Outer Slobovia? Hacked I say, with a rusty hatchet?

That's a good rumor. I like this rumor. :)

But as long as the torch-waving villagers are at the CBC gates, why not make it $500 million? Nice, round half billion Kanuckistanian rasbuckniks. The press loooooves round numbers.

That was fun.

My MP will be getting a message on this topic, but it won't be through the lens offered by the organization for which the oily-voiced Mr. Morrison is the spokesperson.

It will be to the effect that, if the cuts aren't intended to complete the demise of the CBC, then they should be directed where they will do the most good. A government owned media outlet has no business being in the news and public affairs business and that is where the cuts should be directed. In other words, keep classical music and Don Cherry and throw Peter and Kneel, Wendy and Hana under the bus.

This isn't the time to be timid. Bold moves are required. Cut the whole damn CBC subsidy! And don't forget to cut the $1.95 per vote while you're at it. Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!! ;-)

what great sport !...my testy request to my MP Mr.Sexton to further the dismantling of this nest of socialist vipers was very satisfying indeed.

Kate, since I'm the proverbial optimist, I sent this e-mail to Friends of the CBC:

Dear Mr. Morrison (friends@friends.ca),

At this time I am somewhat ambivalent about the CBC. I'm guessing that my views are similar to those of the majority of Canadians.

Can I ask you a sincere question? Would you support a petition based on a statement similar to this:

"We the undersigned believe that since the CBC is a public funded institution that it should reasonably reflect the views of all Canadians. As such, we respectfully request that an equal number of people with right-of-centre viewpoints be employed at the CBC as there are people with left-of-centre viewpoints. If this was done, then we would strongly encourage the government to dramatically increase the amount of funding for the CBC."

Once again, I assure you that my inquiry to you is sincere and genuine. I'm most curious about your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Robert W.
Vancouver, BC

- - - - - - - - -

I'll let you know if he responds!

I just sent one to my NPD MP. I am my it will get request will get his full attention! I am sure I will get a reply because I ended it with this:

"Please let me know what you are doing to make sure these cuts take place."

lol!

I did the same as PENG

why not contribute to the friends?

contribution amount: minus $1 billion CAD

I am glad they are losing $200 million. The two things on CBC that were worth something were the classical and jazz segments on the radio. But they have completely destroyed those.

So CBC can go to hell at this point.

Oh, no, Kate: "This campaign is now closed." See, Kate, your blog really can make a difference. (Unlike the CBC.)

i just tried to send a message off but it says the campaign is now closed....laughing my ass off....kate rocks

OK, they can cut everything. Except for the political panel on the National (admit it, we all watch it), Concerts On Demand (listen to the Christmas program from St. Paul's Montreal), the Vinyl Cafe, and Radio 2 in the mornings and late afternoons. I'm feeling kind of guilty about liking the CBC but Radio 2 in the mornings and late afternoons has the best music I've heard on the radio in years.

Oh yeah, and I love the Vinyl Cafe.

Am I a bad conservative?

Once again SDA gets results. When I followed the link to the email form, I got this reply.

POLITICAL CRISIS: Invest in Culture for Economic Recovery
Thank-you very much for your dedication to Canadian culture, this campaign is now closed.

Must have been a pretty good response to close the campaign in the few minutes since your original post…

The Friends have a "Dalton Camp" award. That in itself is enough to alienate me.

GOD DAMNIT!!! They changed the form. You can no longer costomize it. When I tried to click on the message it sent the thing they wrote. With my f'ing name on it.

Now they'll think I support the trough-wallowing commies.

Somewhere, a troll is laughing at me. lol. Bugger off davison.

I've just sent this message to Ian Morrison:

As a taxpayer, who virtually never hears my viewpoint expressed on the CBC, your little message has made my day! Another nail in CBC’s coffin would be a very fine Christmas present for me and the majority of stressed out taxpayers who do not support “our national broadcaster” and its stable of prima donnas.

Just what do you mean when you say that the overwhelming majority of Canadians support the CBC? Its audience share is minuscule—about 7%, I think. Obviously CBC’s Friends share its propensity for exaggeration and obfuscation. You claim to be non partisan. I noted your nice red tie. Would there be any among you who vote Conservative?

I have complained to the CBC Ombudsman for years (to no avail) about the CBC’s non stop political propaganda that I am forced to pay for. ’Remember, after the recent Heather Mallick fiasco, John Cruickshank actually ADMITTED that the CBC was not balanced? Then he said there would be a change. What change?

I’ve written the Prime Minister to say that if the rumour you’ve told us about is true, “Go for it!”

A Merry Christmas, Mr. Morrison.

No,your not a bad conservative.I like vinyl cafe also.Listened to Arthur Black regularly.Arthurs gone and now,if I remember,still listen to vinyl cafe.McLean could do well on private radio also,maybe even better.The CBC is acting like the big three and the Eaton family.T Eaton and Company was a household word long before the CBC was thought of but the board forgot who made the company a household name and the CBC has also.

I say cut the subsidy to zero and sell off all of the hard assets, that'd be a good start to balancincing the budget, then maybe an across the board pay cut of ten percent for the entire civil service, ditto for all MP's and Senators and repeal the CHretien political party subsidy immediately.

"i just tried to send a message off but it says the campaign is now closed....laughing my ass off....kate rocks"

Wow - I just got mine in under the wire - I wonder if they figured out that their "friends" weren't really their "friends"??? lol

I easily sent my message via the Contact Us link at the ABOUT US section at the web site.

At the now closed down !! site, I was uncomfortable with them having so much information about me, e.g., my street address, so I found an alternate way to give them a piece of my mind. Mr. Morrison is a worthy schill for the CBC: a dissembler who's absolutely full of himself.

(And, I'll bet he celebrates CHRISTMAS, but doesn't have the cojones to say it. I am SO tired of these limp-wristed pygmies!)

I notice "friends" has a "donate" page. If they require donations to survive, why not the CBC.

My only question is 'only $200 million'? Guess Coaches Corner will be moving to TSN along with the HNIC song.

Well folks, does anyone care to build our own auto-emailer?

I would worry that MP's may not read the comments and would assume that your letter is in favor of the CBC. Sort of a lump vote by header, which is a vote the other way, no?

"As such, we respectfully request that an equal number of people with right-of-centre viewpoints be employed at the CBC as there are people with left-of-centre viewpoints."

As soon as you can demonstrate that an equal number of people share your right-of center viewpoints....

Your problem actually isn't with CBC content but rather, with reality.

Nooooooooooooo!!!

I crashed for an hour after I finished with the Goracles lastest wonderland treatment of my driveway and missed the opportunity to make use of the unaltered version.

Dag nabit!! (always wanted to type that)

Kate's post went up at 11:17 and the camapign was over by 11:57 as near as I can calculate.
40 minutes. Now that's action. I guess Mr. Morrison doesn't have as many "friends" as he thought.

I actually can't bear The Vinyl Cafe: Stewart McLean's "uptalk"—every statement sounds like a question—is SO Valley Girl/CBC! (And so unnecessary . . . And bad English too!)

But, hey, it's a free country and conservatism's a big tent—unlike the kindergarten class that is the left: “Now everyone, do this. Now everyone, do that. AREN’T we wonderful?” As one of my favourite literary characters—NOT Dave and Morley!—would say, “Blah”!

Alas, another Internet security moat breeched.

After numerous correspondences to the CBC Ombudsman over the disgusting Heather Mallick diatribe, CBC was scolded and instructed to hire more staff from the right side of the spectrum.
Any bets that this instruction to CBC by the Ombudsman will have to be put on hold during their soon to be funding shortfall?

"We are not affiliated with any political party"-cbc talking head.

It can't be real, it has to be some comedy show doing a parody on cbc.

Wrote to my MP and thanked them for at least thinking of cutting the CBC by $200 million. Told them not to stop there. Asked if and when they get a majority would they please privatise it and make this their first order of business and the second eliminate that $1.95 public funded subsity to the MPs thus also helping to eliminate the Bloc. Mentioned it only makes sense if we have to tighten our belts so should these Prima Donnas.

They listened to me the last time when I suggested they fill those senate seats before the coalition has a chance, maybe they will listen to me again. I sound like Taliban Jack and that red nosed Lib (whose name has conveniently slipped my memory; I'll take the credit. LOL

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Dear Mr. Morrison -
I am a friend of beleaguered taxpayers.

CBC is welcome to take a haircut as the saying goes.
My wife and me, have already taken one in our supposed nest egg RRIf's, therefore CBC taking a cut seems only fair in my view.

Your Mr. Morrison appear to be a youngish fellow, so finding another job seems quite in order, as Friends of Broadcasting seems to be just another pimping organization looking after the Whore CBC.

Let the CBC fund its programming by subscription, sort of swim or bloody well sink into the oblivion they richly deserve.

I suspect this is BS and will be used to support the scary hidden agenda thing (as someone previously mentioned).

First, I absolutely support minimizing/removing the tax subsidy for the CBC. Any announced cuts however will be met with monumental hysteria (as we all know). To counter this, give the CBC a time period (say 5 years) to come up with a plan to be all or mostly self-sufficient. Reduce the funding on a sliding scale as we approach the 5th year. It won't eliminate the hysteria but it might make it easier to sell.

In Morrison's appeal, he mentioned "Harper's national Conservative government" If he was non-partisan as he claims, then why mention the word 'Conservative?' It should be enough that the 'government', regardless of political stripe, is threatening funding cuts.

Off topic, in this PC-age, is it okay for Environment Canada to say that Canada is going to have a 'white' Christmas from coast to coast? Somehow it doesn't seem inclusive enough! ;-)

SDA, Angry, Blazing Cat, Five Feet etc = Rise of the Machines!

Did Ian use Steffi's camera man ?

Heh! I got my "customized" reply done within the 40 minute window, before the machine got shut down by the Kate-a-lanche, and the Ian Morrison robot e-mailer was kind enough to send me a .pdf copy of my missive. Now whether it also got automatically sent on to Kevin Sorenson, my MP for Crowfoot, is another question entirely.

I took much the same tack as Eeyore, suggesting CBC adopt the same business model as CKUA radio in Alberta.

I believe I will e-mail Mr. Sorenson directly, and ask of him if he did in fact receive my message via the "friends".

From this site:

http://www.friends.ca/About_Us/governance

e-mail contact for Ian Morrison:

friends@friends.ca

"Update - SDA gets results.."

Really?
Do you think the Conservative Party of _____ (fill in the blank) will go into an election promoting the de-funding of the CBC? Perhaps this winning policy will increase the federal seat tally in Alberta, what's greater than 100%?

How goes the abortion fight? Is gay marriage still legal?

This is another facile effort by Small Dead Brains. Can’t you find an unscientific poll to manipulate, or does your dignity accrue these pyrrhic victories as they come?

Liberals must be absolutely giddy with your recent achievements, I know I am.

The aptly named joebaloni seems to be suffering a head explosion.

Dear joey, I suggested to my MP that the rumored $200 million cut was an outrage. It should be at least $500 million. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

You're going to need a sponge to get that stuff off the walls there, joey. Better call your mum upstairs, eh?