Mr. Speaker, Canadians have to speak up and decide if our public broadcaster has a future. Considering the billion dollar expenditure and the historical prominence of this institution, it does not reflect well on us to stand by and watch which limb of the pejoratively named corpse will succumb first.
Lawrence Martin in the Montreal Gazette asks why we are ready to go to the wall with Canadian magazines yet falter at supporting the CBC that tells more Canadian stories in a week than magazines do in a year.
Susan Riley in the Ottawa Citizen points out the debasement of American television news with its persistent scandal coverage and warns Canadians to beware privatizing the CBC or it too will fall victim to ratings and dollars. Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson wrote that CBC management failed to reshape the corporation after the cuts.
I concur with the Calgary Herald that the CBC must stay independent of whatever party happens to be running the government. The CBC is glue to this country.