Harper Intentionally Starving CBC - Study

Just received this from our group (Friends of Canadian Broadcasting):

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is about to release publicly a major new research project about the CBC. Because you are a valued supporter, I want to make sure you see it first:

http://www.friends.ca/pollara-09may

Prime Minister Harper is starving CBC, letting it suffer a slow death. At the same time, Harper and his Ministers are advancing the sheer fantasy that the CBC enjoys record high funding levels and are promising more.

Those promises turned out to be empty when the government tabled in Parliament its new spending plan (they call it Supplementary Estimates) last week with not an extra dime for CBC! This follows recent news that the CBC budget will be reviewed to identify spending cuts of up to $56 million next year.

The good news is that Harper's disdainful treatment of the CBC flies in the face of public opinion.

As the research report we commissioned from POLLARA shows, the vast majority of Canadian voters hold the CBC in high regard. Voters see the CBC as our primary custodian of Canadian culture and identity and have a high level of trust and confidence in the CBC to carry this national torch. Most significantly, Canadians think the CBC is underfunded.

We know from past experience that it is extremely difficult to attract media attention to research about the CBC. Private broadcasters do not want to give attention to a rival. And the CBC does not want to appear self-serving in its reporting. But with your help, we can make sure your MP becomes fully aware of public opinion.

Can you please take a moment to tell your MP about these important new facts?

POLLARA's survey found that:

• 68% of Canadians believe that the CBC's current level of funding - $33 per citizen annually - is inadequate to support Canadian culture effectively
• Three-quarters of voters (74%) think CBC's funding should be increased
• More than half (54%) support increasing CBC annual funding to $40 per citizen and 20% support an even bigger increase.

Please send a message informing your MP about this new public opinion research and urge your representative to support an increase to bring the CBC's budget up to $40 per citizen, as recommended by the House of Commons Heritage Committee.

Over the past several weeks, hundreds of thousands of concerned Canadians have sent messages, signed petitions, and joined groups to protest the Harper government's mission to hobble our CBC. Help us make it impossible for the government to ignore public opinion!

Please send your message today.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting

P.S. The House of Commons is not sitting this week so your MP will be at home in your riding. This means that now is the perfect time to send a message. As a local constituent, your message carries extra weight with your MP. I hope you will join me and thousands of others who are terribly upset about the state of our CBC. To keep up the pressure, please send your message now!

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