Wayne Easter sees political agenda blocking Save Compass campaign by Mike Gauthier

by Mike Gauthier

CBC Compass supporters should stop playing political games and concentrate on lobbying for the resources needed to run a quality suppertime news show, one Liberal MP says.

Malpeque MP Wayne Easter was not impressed Thursday to hear that the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and the local Save Compass committee put up a large billboard by Hillside Motors in Charlottetown that says "Wayne Easter, Lawrence MacAulay, Joe McGuire, George Proud: Stand Up for CBC's Compass, Stand Up for the Island.''

"These billboards don't come cheap,'' Easter said of the $1,000-a-month rental fee. "I really feel that this is a misappropriation of funds that have been obtained from citizens. What they are really doing is attacking the very people who have and continue to work to save Compass.''

Thursday was the official launch of a billboard and print advertising campaign to challenge the Island's four MPs to deliver a message at national Liberal caucus meetings in Winnipeg next week, say Save Compass supporters.

"We are here today to urge these four men to stand up for their constituents, instead of bowing to the whim of the Prime Minister (Jean Chrétien),'' Dolores Crane, chairwoman of the Save Compass committee, said in front of roughly 20 CBC supporters Thursday.

"We are challenging our MPs to go to Winnipeg to demand that their government adequately fund CBC so that Compass can be restored and enhanced.''

CBC recently announced its plans for a new one-hour suppertime news package, which includes a local half-hour format. The other half-hour will cover regional and national news.

"The fight in terms of saving Compass has been won,'' said Easter, who is now trying to make sure the human and technical resources are in place to produce a quality show on P.E.I.

The new format begins Monday, Oct. 2.

As Easter understands it from talking to people at CBC Wednesday, there are 17-and-a-half employee positions in place now.

CBC president Robert Rabinovitch told Easter there will be 20 people contributing to Compass under the new format, although Easter isn't sure what "contributing to'' means.

"And I, and several others believe, really what they need is 21 people to do the job.''

The advertising campaign is a followup to a Save Compass leaflet Friends of Canadian Broadcasting delivered to every household on the Island at the end of June.

Ian Morrison, spokesman for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said Chrétien broke a promise made in his campaign platform in 1993 of long-term stable financing for the CBC. He said Chrétien has slashed $400 million from CBC's grant since 1993.

"So it's because of Prime Minister Chrétien and his government, including Mr. Easter, Mr. MacAulay, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Proud, that we're standing here today,'' Morrison said.

Easter said he made it known three weeks ago that the issue will be brought up at the national caucus meetings. He's also written to federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps asking that more funding be made available for local news programming, in Charlottetown especially.

"I probably shouldn't say it (but) I have to question, is there other things involved here?'' Easter said. "Is this the beginning of somebody else's political campaign?''

Easter mentioned Crane, who unsuccessfully ran for the New Democratic Party in the last federal election in 1997.

Charlottetown MLA Wes MacAleer, representing the Binns' government at Thursday's rally, said the campaign proves that the committee set up to save Compass' one-hour suppertime show in its present format will not go away.

"It's going to continue to support the conviction that we started out with which is the importance of Compass to Prince Edward Island and to this community as a means by which Islanders can make informed decisions about their own community,'' MacAleer said.

© The Guardian (Charlottetwon)