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A briefing note for FRIENDS supporters from Ian Morrison Updated: November 6, 2007 There is a huge and troubling gap between the 2006 election policy statements of Stephen Harper's Conservatives and their past comments on public broadcasting and cultural sovereignty. Since coming to power on February 6th, 2006, these contradictions have grown more pronounced. The Conservative candidates' Pocket Policy Guide for the recent election states (on page 10): "Arts and culture make essential contributions to our national identity. A Conservative government will ensure that the CBC and Radio-Canada continue to perform their vital role as national public service broadcasters." (www.friends.ca/news/Fact_Sheets/factsheets01230601.asp) Yet, on January 3rd, 2006, the Conservative central campaign office in Ottawa sent the following message to Candidates advising them how to respond to FRIENDS supporters' e-mail questions: "We are to use this in response – it is a one size fits all response to broadcasting issues." That e-mail includes the following statements:
These three sentences threaten CBC's role in presenting the Olympics and professional sports (such as Hockey Night in Canada) as well as undermine the CRTC as a defender of minimum levels of Canadian programming in the radio and TV systems. In the lead up to the 2004 election, on May 19, 2004, Stephen Harper was asked by a CBC reporter in Winnipeg to comment on his plans for CBC. Here's what he said then: "I've suggested that government subsidies in support of CBC's services should be to those things that are not... Do not have commercial alternatives." He added: "When you take a look at things like main-English language television and probably to a lesser degree Radio Two, you could there (sic) at putting those on a commercial basis." (www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/archives/articles05190403.asp) Later that year, in a speech to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (the private broadcast lobby) Harper contradicted this when he stated that: "we would seek to reduce CBC's dependence on advertising revenue and its competition with the private sector for these valuable dollars, especially in non-sports programming." During the 2004 campaign, John Reynolds, who chaired the Conservatives' 2006 Campaign, wrote a constituent as follows: "CBC Television will be completely cut loose to compete and will have to depend entirely on its advertising revenue." Stephen Rogers, the Conservative candidate in Vancouver Quadra during the 2004 election told a constituent he calls CBC "the Communist Broadcasting Corporation." When she was the official opposition Heritage critic prior to the 2006 election, Bev Oda (who became Harper's first Minister of Canadian Heritage) proposed the following motion, which was passed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on November 15, 2005, shortly before the dissolution of the 38th Parliament: "That the government should undertake to establish an independent task force to review the mandate, role and services of the CBC-SRC; to establish the role the public broadcaster must have and the services it must provide in light of the new media environment and technological advances; that such a review be commenced immediately so the task force report can be completed and made public in a timely fashion so that it will provide input into the public process leading up to the Corporation's license renewal in 2007." However, in early June 2006, in her new role as Heritage Minister, Oda tried and failed to get this proposal through the Harper Cabinet. At that time, one of the Prime Minister's top advisors asked her if she knew what she wanted to do about the CBC, and when she replied that she did, he told her that the government would move on those plans at a later date, and that no public task force was needed. On an opposition day in the House of Commons on May 30, 2006, the Liberals moved the following motion: "That the House insist that the government, its departments and agencies maintain the program policies and regulations in support of Canada's artistic sector and cultural industries, in particular, by maintaining or enhancing: (a) existing Canadian cultural content requirements; (b) current restrictions on foreign ownership in the cultural sector; and (c) financial support for public broadcasting in both official languages." This motion passed in a recorded vote: 155 in favour, 121 opposed. The 121 opposing votes were the Conservative members of the House of Commons. Why? On November 5, 2007, Harper appointed Hubert Lacroix President of the CBC. Lacroix, who contributed $1,000 (the maximum allowable amount) to a Conservative candidate during last year's general election, is a Montreal-based mergers and acquisitions lawyer. His only known broadcasting governance experience has been as executive chair of TeleMedia during the period when that company sold off its broadcasting properties some years ago. Why would Stephen Harper appoint a mergers and acquisitions lawyer with limited broadcasting experience President of the CBC? Harper's action raises troubling questions, especially in view of extensive evidence Friends has compiled herein of the Prime Minister's hidden agenda for public broadcasting and cultural sovereignty. All this has set off alarm bells for Canadians who care about our national public broadcaster's role in defending a distinct culture on the northern half of the continent. This demonstrates why we need to keep a very close eye on Harper's actions on CBC, broadcasting and cultural sovereignty. The most effective weapon on our side is public opinion. As we know from Ipsos-Reid's polling on FRIENDS' behalf, Canadians value the CBC and want it preserved and strengthened in the 21st century: 94% of Canadians agree with the following statement: "I want to see the CBC survive and prosper." (May 13, 2004)
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