The Canadian National Citizens Coalition has launched a petition which reads as follows:
I demand that Minister Moore and PM Harper rein in the CBC! I want to Opt Out of funding the CBC. The state broadcaster has no purpose for continuing in its current state and the government should privatize it.
This petition only has a chance of succeeding if enough Canadians register their vote. If you feel so inclined, please do sign the petition!
Done .
Ditto! Cheers
me to
As well
A worthy objective, of course. But on the matter of petitions:
If this is being sent to a Minister as part of a mass-e-mail campaign, then all submissions will be tallied and the level of support may well have the desired effect, which is to make said Minister take notice. These human flags ARE supposed to blow with the winds of public opinion, after all.
But if there is any intent to have this petition presented in the House, then it won’t happen. There is a specific format and wording that is required for a petition to be accepted by the House, and the word “demand” for one is not acceptable. (The folks at the NCC should know this, of course.)
By all means, support this petition – the more voices calling for the CBC to be axed, the better. But for what it’s worth, just be aware of the rules.
Oh wow, I’m there. I’m *so* there.
This is the most important petition I’ve ever signed.
Actually, this is the most poignant posting I’ve ever read on SDA. Thanks Robert.
Done. Also filled out the other petition by by Abacus Data Inc.
The time has come.
Arnold Ziffell
…for a hollywood pig you’re o.k.
Done diddly un!
I don’t think it will happen! The CBC may upset a lot of Canucks, but it is an age old institution that could haunt the CPC government at a crucial moment when it needs that extra 10% to elect a majority. It (CBC-Radio-Canada) should be revamped and made more self sufficient. But it does play an important role in our society. And this is not the USA!!
Mr. Drylander
Please make your case for CBC Radio 1,2,3 and French.
Drylander, you may indeed be correct about the CPC forever being scared to touch their funding. But the CBC’s Far Left agenda and de facto role as the Ministry of Truth is not healthy for our society. Period.
Me three.
Done. Thanks for the link, Robert. Rob Anders has ‘a get rid of Ceebeesee’ on his website.
Rob has a ‘get rid of Ceebeecee’ petition: http://mpmedia.xpr.ca/media/CBC%20Petition.pdf A person has to copy the petition and send it to Rob. No charge for postage.
Mr Drylander, you state several excellent reasons for getting rid of the CBC.
It’s old and no longer relevant to its original purpose (in fact you acknowledge that it upsets many Canadians).
I voted CPC to cut back on the number of government dependent positions. Let the government represent all Canadians, not just those depending on the government for their cheque.
The quickest and only way to efficiency is to require the CBC to stand on its own.
“We are not the US” is standard CBC
cockamamie for justifying the absurd Liberal policies of the last 4 decades.
I don’t listen to the CBC on the radio but my 96 year old Grandmother does.
She mentioned the other day that they are starting to sound panicked like the light at the end of the tunnel is in fact a train and it has the name Harper stenciled on the side.
Unlike Wile-e-Coyote I’m thinking the’re not getting up from this one.
Done!
I don’t support the CBC, I don’t support Radio-Can.
Alls I’m saying–t’ain’t never going to happen. Too risky!
Mr. Drylander
So you’re actually a gal?
Mr D, When the time comes, the risk will be in not getting rid of the CBC. For now there are lots of other places to reduce the federal footprint. CBC is incapable of changing its course to irrelevance and oblivion.
Added my name to the petition but don’t expect much to happen with it. I think if we really want to get rid of the CBC it means writing snail-mail letters to PMSH.
Mr D, When the time comes, the risk will be in not getting rid of the CBC. For now there are lots of other places to reduce the federal footprint. CBC is incapable of changing its course to irrelevance and oblivion.
In a lot of northern areas….even Parry Sound….the CBC is the only game in town.
In the better served areas…okay…we don’t need a tax-payer funded LIBRANO network…
Apparently the TV signal in Northern Ontario is still available analog…
Here in the banana belt…digital only…I bought a new box rather than a decoder…fantastic picture but now have 4 channels instead of 6 with a tower….perhaps I need a better array.
Why use Facebook? I support the goal but refuse to sign up for Facebook.
Hey rob i posted this in reader tips last night ,and yes i signed it ..lol.
You don’t have to use Facebook to sign in, JMD (8:04). You can just fill in your name and email.
1 Billion worth of needed surgeries or 1 Billion dollars for the CBC. Survey Says?
Would be nice to still have CBC radio and it could easily be maintained privately. They usually play the best array of music. Unless Chorus radio puts on better programming from 3pm on, they will lose me to CBC most days. Other than that Chorus does a great job from the break of dawn to 3pm.
The Conservatives will never “get rid of the CBC”. Maybe,if enough of us lobby them,they MIGHT demand CBC earn it’s own way through advertising sales.
The Radio division is SO holier-than-though about not having advertising!
Welfare aristocracy.
What I don’t understand is why the Conservatives are taking so long to axe the CBC.
The CBC has been anti-conservative and anti-Harper for a decade or more, and they continue to be. They do not even remotely represent a broad cross-section of the Canadian population. I cannot remember the last time I heard anything on the CBC that I agree with.
If the Cons don’t want to axe the organization, they should at least insist on *major* changes so that the organization provides a more balanced view. For example if they are going to let someone as left leaning as Suzuki come on their network, then they should be forced to allow another point of view on any topic he covers.
They should also at least fire those in the CBC newsroom who are clearly anti-Harper, of which there are many, including Mansbridge.
Done and forwarded on.
In the long run, I think forcing the CBC to be more balanced towards conservatives would actually be worse than just cutting it loose and telling it to make its own way. If the CBC has to explicitly adjust its programming to suit the current majority government, then it really will be the Ministry of Truth. No, far better to privatize it entirely and require it to make the case for its own existence to the people who are paying for it as customers.
I just got this in my wife’s mail,nice to see it not only here on SDA.
Opt out? What kind of lame a$$ed idea is that? Enough of the politically correct charades here – this is SDA! Let’s be honest – shutter the CBC and sell the assets now! FIRE THEM ALL!
Let CBC compete with their competitors on a level playing field. Receiving money from the state puts them in a highly compromised position.
They take tax dollars from the competition and its employees. They either have to suck up to the ruling party or artificially distance themselves by bashing the ruling party in order to appear independent. Its governance is highly politicized due to their board of directors being appointed by the government, and we all know that government appointees not only are loyal members of the governing party, but are beholden to the party and will in some way work for it – hence, the perception that they are the Liberal Party’s official propaganda organ. The whole concept of a government appointed/funded broadcaster is anathema to a healthy democracy.
It will be a long fight, but until and unless the CBC has to depend on the size of its viewership in order to survive, like all other broadcasters, it will always be politically motivated to curry the favour of the party most friendly to it.
It has been driven by the Liberal Party since the day it first began broadcasting. But even if the opposite were true, if it had been driven by the Conservatives, as long as it’s dependent on taxpayer funding, it is anti-democratic. The temptation to please its masters is natural and strong. To the contrary, a private broadcaster must please its audience or it will not be capable of raising funds from advertizers.
sasquatch at 2:46 AM: “In a lot of northern areas….even Parry Sound….the CBC is the only game in town.”
=======================
I once lived in Northern Saskatchewan. The town had a satellite dish that picked up only two stations. One was from Edmonton, but I don’t remember what network it was. The other was an English language CBC station from Montreal. Go figure.
But the point is, the technology is there. CBC does not have to be “the only game in town”.
Its not going to do any good for Canada, the Conservatives or any party to get rid of the CBC.
I support the Harper gov. entirely. However at 35% pop., we just can’t afford to get rid of what is held at heart by a good portion of Canada.
Look at the CWB. What happened there?? We now know that a good majority of Canadian farmers want to keep it. I’d vote for choice and a board that is owned and controlled by farmers.
Why not a network that is owned and controlled by the people of Canada??
I’m not signing any petitions. My petition is not showing up to vote in 2015 if the CBC hasn’t received a major haircut by then.
I’m not on Facebook and no longer sign online petitions. I have, however, sent emails to the Prime Minister and my MP, telling them that my taxes should not fund the CBC. Let it grow up and sink or swim on its own.
“we just can’t afford to get rid of what is held at heart by a good portion of Canada”
Going on the shaky assumption that the CBC is held at heart by a good portion of Canada (I personally don’t think that is true), what percentage of this portion realize that the annual subsidy is $1.1 billion plus? I would venture a guess that less than 10% have any idea just what this tax dollar guzzling monstrosity costs us each year. The government should put this out to the public at every opportunity and, at the same time, put forth suggestions as to how this enormous amount of money could be better spent. A little education would certainly reduce this “good portion” to a miniscule number who would probably support the CBC come Hell or high water anyway.
The answer as to why the Federl Gov’t continues to finance the CBC may be to the effect that the CBC is thoroughly discredited as a news organisation; no-one believes them; and the Conservatives have shown that they can win convincingly in the face of determined opposition by the CBC. If they are discontinued, something will likely take their place, and that “something” is an unknown, which might be more effective against the Conservatives than the CBC. Hence maintenance of the CBC may be viewed as the lesser of evils.
lewis your full of BS.
The only solution is SHUT DOWN THE CBC TODAY!!!!
sell off the assets and put the money towards the deficit.
I’d like to see the National Citizens Coalition lose it’s tax free status.
The days of the CBC being the leftist vehicle it has become are drawing to a close. Hence the panic in Marxist circles. The left is terrified they might have to use their own money to spread the hate of classism. Ive never meet a lefty yet who is willing to put a wallet where there mouth is. They want tax payers to pay for their obsessions.
see ya cbc its time
It’s obvious to me that the posters in this thread are mesmerized by the travesty that is CBC television. I’d agree – get rid of it.
But please let’s not trash CBC radio and Radio Canada International. It’d be like throwing out the baby out with bath water.
I’d really miss Paul Kennedy’s “Ideas” program.