Mr. Speaker, in this era of rapid globalization, Canada's cultural institutions bind us together as a nation. As Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC has an obligation to be accessible to all Canadians.
The decision of the CBC to cut off service to the more than one million Canadians living primarily in rural and remote communities by discontinuing English language transmission of large dish C-band satellite signals is wrong.
At a time when the CBC is being watched by smaller and smaller audiences, it demonstrates just how out of touch CBC management is when it looks for ways to shrink its number of viewers. Canadian taxpayers have a right to service from their public broadcaster regardless of where they live.
It is time for the CBC to admit its mistake and restore service to the large C-band dish owners of this country.