Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have two brief points to make. First of all, I don't think I'm being overly dramatic to say that the loss of CBC TV over-the-air television in Kamloops is the death of a canary in a mine. The loss foreshadows what will happen to tens of thousands of Canadians who don't live in major centres. I say this because the CBC executive has told our group in the letter that has been attached to our handout that only 44 centres will continue to have CBC television broadcast to them. I haven't seen who is on this list, but I suggest that members of this committee find out if their ridings have been excluded, and if so, you will hear from hundreds of constituents who will wonder what happened to the reception of their national broadcaster.
The second point I want to make has to do with the mandate of the CBC, which is to be available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and most efficient means as resources become available for the purpose. What's happened in Kamloops is the reverse. We had CBC television in Kamloops and it's been lost. The justification has been that we've lost it because the CBC can no longer provide over-the-air signals. I would argue that this is one of the most efficient and most democratic ways of distributing television in Canada, and I hope the CBC will reverse its decision.