From "Friends of Canadian Broadcasting" today:
As we anticipated, the Harper government announced its intention yesterday to throw open our doors to foreign ownership in Canada's communications sector.
Like cascading dominos, this will lead to a drastic reduction in the quality and quantity of Canadian stories on television as our domestic broadcasters fall into the hands of foreign owners.
Please help FRIENDS stop this disastrous plan.
As I write this message to you, the Finance Minister has tabled in the House of Commons his budget which describes how foreign ownership restrictions for telecommunications companies in Canada are to be stripped away.
If we let Stephen Harper get away with this, it will be only the first step.
Harper's scheme creates a slippery slope because it would give phone companies a clear advantage over the cable monopolies, with whom they directly compete.
Cable will demand equal treatment and the broadcasters will follow suit.
The result: several generations of hard work to maintain our cultural sovereignty through Canadian ownership and control of broadcasting would go down the drain.
This may be of no concern to Stephen Harper, whom the New York Times reported last year prefers to watch American TV news. But what about the rest of us?
Losing Canadian control would do serious damage to Canada's cultural sovereignty because, as you know, those who control the media also control the message. If foreign companies are allowed to control our media, Canadian stories will fade to black.
Together we can stop this. Will you help?
Already, FRIENDS has been campaigning to make sure the politicians know the implications of Harper's nefarious scheme. You can see my comments on CBC's The National last night by clicking here.
