Mr. Speaker, for the past six weeks the management of CBC has locked out 5,000 employees. This lockout is not only affecting workers and their livelihoods but the longer the situation is allowed to continue the more the future of the CBC is called into question.
Like other members, I have requested that the heritage committee call before it members of senior management of the CBC in order to explain to Parliament why CBC workers continue to be locked out and also to explain their mandate for the corporation as they see it. As well, some of us have also indicated that we will refuse to do CBC interviews as long as the lockout continues.
Many of us now believe the public has a right to know what is really going on. The CBC that Canadians trust is in danger of slowly disappearing. The CBC is not just another corporation, not just another service to the public, but a symbol of our country, indeed a value that we need to sustain.
I call upon the CBC management to act in good faith and to end the lockout.