| It might be helpful to the anchor of Canada’s public network to let him know that, as of today, thousands of Canadians (619 in the last hour) are onto the Guy Gendron controfacture before he even gets a chance to “break” it. |  |
An update and a very good question;
So what does a nine month long investigation into an alleged “secret” conspiracy based on a public document cost Canadian taxpayers anyway? Anyone?
That sounds to me like a good question to ask by email or toll free call 1-866-306-4636
Ombudsman Vince Carlin
More Response – Fort McMurray Today: “CBC Story ‘Wrong’ – Stringham”;
“The CBC represented it as the Americans saying, ‘We need to do this and we need to do it now,’” Stringham added.
“The CBC was wrong; I’m quite surprised with the story, to be honest, because this (meeting) was over a year ago, remember, and it wasn’t a private meeting; it was hosted by three levels of government and there’s been subsequent ones for gas and electricity.”
The conference was part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, “a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater co-operation and information sharing,” according to the SPP website.
Energy security is one of its priorities, with an aim to “keep our borders closed to terrorism yet open to trade.”
Question… We’re planning on having an anti-CBC demonstration in Calgary this spring. How many of you folks would be able to show up?
As a tax payer, I am sick and tired of paying for CBC television to be on the air.
Either they earn their own keep, of they should keep their opinions to themselve.
It is time for all of us in Canada to stand up and demand an end to state-sponsored proganda.
CBC will never mention SDA on air, good grief, the last thing they want is to make the Trawna Librano Zombies aware that there is another source of information and alternative viewpoints.
The premier of Sask learned that lesson well.
Hey Jan, I just checked that video you referred to and it looks good to me… but then again the video only played a few seconds before it crashed with a server not responding error! you think with a billion dollar budget they could get some real computers there.
Guys, here’s a hint:
If you want to be taken seriously with the ombudsman or anyone outside the blogosphere, stop calling them Libranos, Liebranos, Lieberals, etc. It’s fine to do it on here, but to do it in a letter to an editor or an ombudsman, you’re exposing yourself as a partisan hack.
Alberta is already spreading the wealth
Any discussion of ‘redistributing’ the province’s petrodollars to correct fiscal imbalances is misguided
PRESTON MANNING AND FRED KERR
As the premiers and the federal government discuss fiscal imbalances and equalization, one hears increasing references to Alberta’s burgeoning petroleum revenues and suggestions that Ottawa should somehow involve itself in “redistributing” such revenues more equitably across the country.
In 1980 — the last time the federal government acted on such advice after the OPEC-engineered oil price hike — the results were politically and economically disastrous. Confiscatory taxes imposed on the industry in Canada almost killed the goose that was laying the golden egg. Oil-patch investment and jobs fled the country. Western alienation came within a hair of being transformed into full-blown western separatism.
And the Liberal government responsible for the so-called national energy program destroyed its electoral prospects in much of the West for more than two decades.
The Harper government obviously has no intention of repeating such mistakes. And there would be less misguided pressure for it to do so, if the public were to better understand the following facts:
1. Albertans’ per capita contribution to equalization is by far the highest in the country.
The federal government collects consumption, income and other taxes from individuals and corporations across Canada. Naturally, it collects more revenue in provinces whose economies are vigorous than it does in provinces whose economies are weak. Ottawa then redistributes significant revenues to the governments of less affluent provinces through the equalization program, to enable them to provide social services to their people roughly equivalent to those available in the rest of the country.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty cites the $23-billion net federal fiscal contribution made by the people of Ontario, and argues that this is excessive. But, for 40 years (even when oil prices have been low), Albertans’ net federal fiscal contribution per person per year has been more than triple that of Ontarians.
Any suggestion that Albertans have not been contributing their fair share to equalization and should be contributing an even higher percentage is itself unfair.
2. The benefits of the current boom in the petroleum sector are already distributed far more broadly than most people think.
In 2006, $108-billion in revenue will flow into the petroleum sector in Canada as a result of record high oil prices.
The portion of this revenue that is most visible to the public — because it is most frequently mentioned by the media and the politicians — is the portion that flows into the coffers of the Alberta government. In 2006, this will amount to almost $20-billion — about $14-billion in royalties, $3-billion in taxes, and $3-billion from the sale of drilling rights.
But what about the other $88-billion? The Canadian petroleum industry will send about $5-billion to Ottawa in federal income taxes in 2006 and another $2-billion to $3-billion to the treasuries of other hydrocarbon-producing provinces such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. It will spend $11-billion on debt and equity financing charges, and another $23-billion on administrative and operating expenses.
And then there is the big ticket item — capital expenditures.
Conventional oil and gas wells start declining from the moment they come on stream. Typically, a new gas well’s production declines around 30 per cent in the first year. As a result, the industry must drill an ever-increasing number of wells just to keep production flat, let alone grow it. Oil-sands plants are even more capital intensive. This means that much of the capital generated by conventional and oil-sands production must be reinvested in further development. Thus, in 2006, the industry will commit more than $40-billion to capital expenditures — everything from rigs and mining equipment to chemicals and pipes — much of which is made outside Alberta, notably in Ontario.
Finally, there is the stream of dividends and distributions paid to investors in Canada’s petroleum sector — about $6-billion in 2006. The ownership of today’s industry is structured quite differently than it was in the 1980s — with many energy producers having organized themselves into royalty and income trusts. The majority of these are owned by individuals, mutual funds, and pension funds based in Central Canada. When the Liberal government mused about rejigging the tax rules for royalty and income trusts, it was no coincidence that the loudest and most immediate protests came not from Calgary but from Toronto.
And then there are the capital gains recently enjoyed by Canadian energy investors, most of whom live outside Alberta. The energy sector, which, during the Nortel glory days of the high-tech boom, represented less than 10 per cent of the TSX index, today represents about 30 per cent. That’s a lot of wealth generation for a large number of Canadians right across the country.
The bottom line? While $20-billion of the $108-billion generated by the petroleum industry in 2006 will end up in the hands of the Alberta government, the remaining $88-billion is much more broadly distributed than most media commentators, politicians and Canadians think.
3. The investment of $100-billion in the oil sands will generate more tax dollars for the federal government than the Alberta government, and almost as many person years of employment outside Alberta as within the province.
A recent study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute highlighted the following facts: Conventional oil production in Canada is declining, underscoring the importance of oil sands as a vital source of North American supplies. In 2004, Alberta’s oil sands were recognized by the International Energy Agency, for the first time, as part of global oil reserves. This established Canada’s reserves as second only to Saudi Arabia’s, justifying Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s assertion that Canada is becoming an energy superpower.
But oil-sands development requires massive capital investment before anyone sees a dime of revenue. Producers need to delineate ore bodies, build processing facilities, and buy trucks and loaders or inject steam to coax the gooey stuff out of the ground.
The need for massive capital investment creates opportunities for investors across Canada and around the world. And all this capital investment creates thousands of jobs, for which Alberta alone cannot hope to supply the labour. Trades people, engineers and labourers are flocking to Fort McMurray from across Canada, including a large contingent from Newfoundland. Most of those workers pay Canadian taxes.
Many send a portion of their oil wages home to Corner Brook, Barrie or Moncton.
The CERI study estimated the impacts of $100-billion invested in oil-sands development over a 20-year period through to 2020.
Even if oil prices were to level off at half their current level, this investment will lead to:
6.6-million person years of employment, 44 per cent of it outside of Alberta. Of the 1.7-million person years of employment generated in Canada outside of Alberta, 1 million would be in Ontario alone.
Federal government tax revenues of $51-billion, making Ottawa (not Alberta) the largest recipient of government revenues generated by oil-sands development.
An interesting future study would be to compare the national distribution of benefits, including tax revenues generated for the federal government, from the development of an oil-sands plant in Alberta versus a hydro-power project in Quebec or a nuclear-power plant in Ontario. And if such a study showed — as it would — that the benefits from the hydro and nuclear projects were much more narrowly distributed than those of the oil-sands project, would the political and business establishments of Ontario and Quebec support federal intervention in the name of equalization to ensure a more equitable distribution? Not likely.
The above facts concerning the current and future distribution of benefits from the development of Alberta’s petroleum resources are not widely known. They are rarely even mentioned, let alone taken into account, in the debate on how to correct fiscal imbalances and reform equalization. It is high time they were.
Preston Manning, a former federal leader of the Official Opposition, is president of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy and a senior fellow of the Fraser Institute. Fred Kerr is a Calgary-based commentator and former institutional stockbroker specializing in the energy sector.
Source; Globe & Mail.
Hey Everyone:
It’s starting to look like CBC isn’t going to air their special report after all. Instead, it’s a special report about elephants…how sweet.
Why is it that, immediately after they get caught lying and spreading propaganda, they get Diana Swain to host?
In a way, I’m glad they backed down. But it still bugs me that they made this hit-and-run attack and got away with it. The intial story probably did some damage on its own. I bet right now they’re thinking “half a smear is better than none at all.”
Tax revolt anyone?
it isnt even that insular and old view cbc brass have ‘forgotten’, they have never known that the blogosphere bops all their manipulation lieberal propagandizings like those gophers at the county fair.
their entrenchism and symbiotic relationship with the turdeaucretienmartindion monstrosity is now quickly exposed ‘as it happens’ (pun intended).
the lieberal zombie electorata cannot face the horror of their pigeon status and therefore continue in a collective hysteria and denial.
These memory lapses,that Chretien,Martin Dion etc.seem to have(somewhat conveniently),remind me of an old disease.The dreaded “CRAFT” syndrome
Can’t
Remember
A
Fu**’n
Thing
I have a radical idea. Canada is a net exporter of food, energy and minerals. The world in general benefits from the output of our economy. Does it not make sense that Canada should be a net recipient of these “carbon credits”, as we have to use energy to survive this climate, which then produces benefits for the world….put that in your backpack, citoyen dion
Hey bryceman,
Does that special report about elephants conclude that Stephen Harper is killing all the elephants?
Here’s a drinking game: watch the National and do a shot every time it’s Harper’s or Bush’s fault.
You should see the butcher job on the French CBC. I would have put away a 40 pounder with this show. My French is bad but the message is clear. No wonder QC wants to sodomize AB with all the propoganda thats being fed. Absolutely disgusting!
You should see the butcher job on the French CBC. I would have put away a 40 pounder with this show. My French is bad but the message is clear. No wonder QC wants to sodomize AB with all the propoganda thats being fed. Absolutely disgusting!
I watched the SRC version this evening as well. Every time they talked about plans for expansion of oil sands production there was a low, ominous undertone of music. I have to admit I laughed. A real hatchet job.
CBC-Cluelessly Betraying Canada.
There is no place for state run TV in a democracy, especially one that makes no attempt to be fair and balanced.
The salaries of these dishonest, unethical, left wingnut, anti-American, anti-liberation assholes are paid by all Canadians but they have no compunction about presenting the views of only left wing Canadians.
I used to think that CBC should just die a slow death and not allow any new hires and just let everyone retire out of it. Now…I say put the ax to the whole lot of them. I hear there are some job openings in Fort Mac in the oil sands.
“I read that 17 riding associations had been de-listed for not filing the proper reports. Most of them were liberal and green. Not one Conservative riding de-listed”
Can you even imagine the headlines if the Conservatives had not filed proper reports!
Someone mentioned there is honor among thieves and liars, so true in the Liberal Party of Canada.
They steal the ideas of other parties, adopt them as their own and lie about everything else when the truth doesn’t fit in with their wild vote baiting schemes which is most of the time.
One of those schemes called Adscam is still pooping out the scandal but not the money stolen from us.
It was an abracadabra under the table/left on the table brown bag exchange and disappearing act.
Wonder if Dear Jean still has his golf ball collection in case he has to testify again?
John Gomery deserves an Honor of Canada for putting up with the whole lot of them.
If ever there was a misnomer it’s the application of “Honorable” to all members of Parliament across the board. Calling the Rat Finks in the Bloc “Honorable” is stretch. Where is there honor in wanting to break away from and break up Canada?? Some traditions are simply asinine.
So let me get this straight, correct me if I’m wrong: this outrageous cooked-up smear story by a radical Quebec wing of the CBC got spiked on Friday night – on English TV – but went ahead in Quebec?
So francophone viewers in Quebec watched a CBC special that clearly states the Conservatives, immediately after being elected, rushed down to Texas for a secret meeting with Americans to ramp up oil sands production and stifle environmental regulation?
This is truly a smoking gun, almost criminal, definitely outrageous. Quebec seats are critical to the Conservative party. This stinks and I hope we have not heard the last of this. This could be the one, the chink in the armour, the straw that broke the camel’s back, I want to see an official investigation, a public inquiry, into this specific media incident.
WTF?
Why run it in Quebec ?
If it was deemed inaccurate or partisan in English Canada, why is it not partisan or inaccurate in Quebec?
I guess the CBC must now admit that it delivers partisan flawed inaccurate lies to part of our country?
I know, it is an outrage, I watched the news story clip posted earlier in this thread:
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/vsu/wmv-hi/gendron-oilsands070117.wmv
It was blatantly deceptive, they ran video of Harper when talking about the meeting in Texas, when Harper hadn’t even been sworn in yet. This is dishonest and an obvious partisan attack disguised as news. If CBC management spiked the “special report” in English but could not resist running it in French they potentially did some real harm to the Conservative party in Quebec. IF this is what happened last night on TV many heads must roll. Taxpayers must not fund this sort of thing, there’s got to be something illegal about this.
ET, what do you think John Baird’s trip to Vancouver was about? He called the damage there and the wacky weather across Canada a “wake up call”. Is he sincere, or were the CPC wasting money? That had nothing to do with “cleaning up The Great Lakes” and “research on alternate energy”. Would you not say there’s been an obviously renewed vigour on the environmental issues since Oct 9 (Clean Air Act)? What new scientific data landed in Stephen Harper’s lap to give rise to this focus? He’s not governing by polls, right?
Many here (including me) has talked about how nice it would be if the CBC were shutdown. Is everyone here aware that you can file a montion with the CRTC to have the CBC’s funding taken away?
The CRTC calls it an “intervention.” It happens whenever a person or group files an objection with the CRTC regarding the funding or allowing of a broadcaster to continue running.
Last night, I had a long (nearly four hour)conversation with an old friend of mine who used to be rather closely involved in the CBC. He told me of an attempt in 1974 to “air out” the CBC. Many of the complaints of that day (i.e. reporting things as being about “what Canadians think” when it was really about what Torontonians thought) were strikingly similar to the complaints of today.
In an “intervention”, you get to file a report, provide the evidence, and make an oral presentation to the board of the CRTC.
Now, the truth is…even if your evidence is overwhelming, you probably won’t get anywhere. The CBC is such a “national institution” and the brass is just as tight-knit and controlling as you might imagine.
But, at least you can get the evidence on record. After a few years of this, you might actually get somewhere.
We need a poll asking this question,
Would you support the abolishment of the CBC as a national taxpayer funded special interest group.
bryceman, for the record’s all it would be–not to say it’s not worth doing. Remember, the CRTC’s comprised of the same leftie elites as the CBC. They party, cottage, and golf together, if not share the same beds.
I know of people who’ve minutely documentd CBC abuse for nearly three decades. The CRTC gives the same kind of brush off the CBC does. Inequity? Lack of balance? Unfairness? Where? When? We see none of that.
I suggest keeping up the pressure anyway though, if only for the record, in case there should ever be anyone who’ll do something about it: Conservative majority? (And maybe Vince, the CBC ombudstoady–he’s EMPLOYED by the CBC!–and his bosses will be getting a little nervous that their shenanigans are attracting a lot of attention–public, at that–which, for a change, they can’t control. ‘Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch.)
Also, write Bev Oda, Heritage Minister, who’s responsible for the CBC. Copy correspondence to the PM’s office. Maybe someday our efforts will be fruitful.
lookout:
I absolutely agree that (at least in the beginning) it would indeed only be for the record.
Yes, they are the same bunch of elitists. And, frankly, I would love to see the CRTC and the CBC taken out in the same swipe.
All I was suggesting is that change might actually come when it is made clear to these elitists that, as you say,“their shenanigans are attracting a lot of attention.”
They have been able to push dissenters to the side before because there was never a mass mobilization. In the past, it was only a few insiders and maybe a handful of people with the interest and resources to find the fraud for themselves. The point is that their power came from the fact that they could rest comfortably in the knowledge that the stories of their corruption could never get out…because they contol the airwaves.
Today, however, because of the Internet, it is becoming obvious that the story is getting out. They pulled their little “exposé” last night because of that very fact. They’re scared. They have never been so scared. Perhaps continuing to get the word out and filing real action by huge numbers will make it something that is not so easy for them to bury.
Times are changing and maybe action is not as futile as it was in previous years. That’s all I was suggesting.
Amen, bryceman. We’re definitely on the same page in the hymnal!
It feels good, doesn’t it?
Here’s what I’ve just sent off to Tony Burman at CBC:
“Good day, Mr. Burman
“As I sit here listening to, enjoying, and much appreciating ‘Sound Advice’, I’m sending along a post I made at a blog the other day:
‘I listen to CBC 2: I usually like the music. The news is absurd and dangerously increases my blood pressure.
‘On my way home from work [Thursday, January 18], the 6 o’clock news (sic) was a joke. There was no news–just views: all spun from the left, all anti-Harper (ditzy story about the Lib shadow cabinet) and anti-American, except for the nice Democrat, who loves Canadians, ‘our best ally’, who was slamming a Bushie for being mean to Arar. My head’s spinning from all the contradictions here. Then there was a long, banal piece on Poles in Scotland. [There was also a piece on the dangerous situation for prostitutes in Vancouver and attempts–but none were given: I was waiting–to improve their lot. Also, when providing a sound bite, a police officer, quite inappropriately, I thought, used the word, “Jesus” as an expletive.] (If I weren’t on a busy road, in a small car, very close to the radio, I’d have thrown something at it!)
‘This is news? No, it’s crap, paid for by all of us. Bloody, stupid CBC. It can’t lose its phony status and funding too soon for me. (I can listen to music on other channels.)’
And I mean that. I finally cancelled my 30-year subscription to the Globe and Mail, which has skidded and come to a crashing halt far to the left of where it used to be. And it’s a private corporation, while the CBC, using MY $$, has a MANDATE to be fair and balanced. Your record here, Mr. Burman, is reprehensible.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve regularly contacted–for the record only–the ombudsman, a CBC employee, no less: conflict of interest, perhaps?–and have, apparently, been mistaken precisely 100% of the time. What are the odds? (As I imagine you can see–but I don’t take anything for granted re the CBC and the clear meaning of anything–I’m not a complete idiot.)
If you’re offended by my strongly worded opinions here, I’m sorry. However, you should realize that the CBC has grossly abused my intelligence, integrity, and rights, as a citizen of Canada, for decades on end. No amount of presenting my case has made the slightest difference. Just imagine how that makes me feel. On a scale of 1 to 10, my respect for CBC news and public affairs programs is minus 5.
You have a serious problem here, Mr. Burman. I think you need to do something about it.”
Can someone give me a link to the story of 17 ridings being delisted?
I’d like to post it on a few lib blogs who accused Khan of wrongdoing.
The French language CBC story (SRC) ran nationally, not just in Quebec. It was on the SRC newsmagazine show “zone libre”. I watched it here in Calgary.
It was a hatchet job. There were some very interesting segments, particularly on the development of the oil sands, and it was very well produced. I have to say though, that there is no question it was heavily biased against Alberta, the CPC and the oil sands. The oil sands were referred to at length as an environmental “catastrophe”.
Harper and the CPC were portrayed as fighting for the interests of the oil industry and the United States over those of Canada and the environment. A number of commentators were shown near the end stating that Canada is a cold country, and we should be saving the oil for our own needs. A Greenpeace activist in Montreal was featured prominently.
The twisting of timelines, facts and use of sound bites was very manipulative and completely misrepresented the recent history of oilsands development.
The use of low, menacing music whenever Americans and oilsands development were discussed was appalling. Imagine a documentary about a serial killer and you’ll get the idea. It reminded me of a Simpsons episode where Homer says, “but they must be evil, listen to the music”. Ironically, I guess SRC has decided to borrow techniques from the worst of shoddy, tabloid journalism from south of the border…
Can somebody explain to my why the CBC feels it is acceptable to run, nationally, different news programs or different versions of news programs depending on the language of presentation. If the CBC is our “National Public Broadcaster” with a mandate to “building shared national consciousness and identity”, shouldn’t all content that is aired nationally be presented in both French and English?
I could understand the discrepancy if the subject matter presented was considered to be strictly of interest to a local audience. Had the CBC only aired the program in Alberta, they might have a case for saying it was a local interest story. However, nobody could possible argue that a report about Alberta’s oil sands was only of national interest to French speaking Canadians.
In this instance, I believe the CBC has failed in its mandate.
paulstuff: I read that in a column reporting on the hype re Khan riding. I have 2 wks of Lethbridge Heralds, waiting to go to recycle bin. If it wasn’t there, it might have been mentioned in the G&M comments, or a Sun item. I will search for it. As you can imagine, it was well down near the bottom of the article. It shouldn’t be too hard to find, we don’t have many writers on our side.
Comments about using the CRTC to reign in the CBC are interesting.
In my experience with the CRTC, you have to have a mass movement of people to be listened to. Will someone start this process by creating an on-line forum for us to join and start the process of regulatory intervention against their next license renewal?
paulstuff: Go to Google, type in -delisted liberal ridings- There are 27 delisted according to elections canada in the first item that shows up. Boy, did that save me a lot of searching.
mary t…that is part of the reason for decline in ‘print media’…but in the future what will we use to line the cages or start the woodstove?
back page of our small local last night said Khan was cleared by Elections Canada…is that any where in MSM?
vh-We will have to use all those fliers sent out by advertisers, but they are also probably going to be gone. Anyone see the stats for viewers for lmotp last week. Maybe manbridge drew more viewers, and that is not saying much.
Let’s go with the Leftoid/Unionist chant..
Ho,ho, hey, hey, CBC will ruin your day!
Hey, hey, ho, ho, CBC has got to go!
Well, hey we gotta try!
Ain’t it the truth? Khan gets cleared by Elections Canada and hardly a peep from the rotters in the MSM.
Never mind the Librano accusers and Dipper Pat Martin who are too busy eating crow to comment……so it’s back to the environment, most urgent concern of the century for the Libs and Dippers, while their back room twits look for something else to pounce on.
Check out Stephanie’s testimony at the Gomery Inquiry website, seems he know about as much as Sargeant Schultz from Hogan’s Heroes.
Watch for fireworks when the govt reconvenes. MP Holland is all over the cbc saying how he is going to challenge the govt on everything. CBC is calling him the lone ratpack. Anyone know who the 24 libs are that are not running in next election. Dion, on giggles would not commit to naming Justin Trudeau as a candidate, said he should maybe try another riding and earn the nomination. Why is dion afraid of Justin.
I have it on good authority that, if the Liberals had won the last election, they had already prepared an NEPII ready to go.