18- to 35-year olds in support of the Canadian Media Guild

Be square

2005-10-05T00:48:00.000-04:00

Since I'm the only one of the lot of us working anywhere near the (Ottawa) picket line, I got to judge a baking contest today. Harsh, eh? It seemed like a good idea to compensate in some way for my complete lack of expertise, so I turned to plain old nerdry. Here's how it broke down:

Figure one: Excel sheets make life better
(The ingredients scale is just a baseline; it got pretty subjective from there. It seemed wrong to penalize the use of healthier products, but, really, who needs raisins?)

Notes on the top three (they're not the three you think they are):

The cheesecake brownies set themselves apart by their sheer decadence. No one who hasn't (holy awkward negation, Batman!) been walking in circles for 50 some-odd days should even consider partaking of one of these beauties (pictured below).
Limes rule. The key lime squares were incredibly refreshing after a halftable of chocolate and condensed milk, and the contrasting textures were, uh, contrasting.
To break the three-way tie for third, I sided with variety and picked the pumpkin squares over the other brownies. Pumpkin is a bold choice, a smart risk and seasonally appropriate.

Figure two: The winner
(image shamelessly lifted from http://ottawaguild.ca/english/photos.shtm)

I don't know what we'll be doing with this space come next week, but I'm pretty sure there'll be one last cake delivery before then.

Deal

2005-10-03T00:45:00.000-04:00

Evidently, there is a deal. No details yet.

And I had a carrot cake all planned out.

Update: Some details on the main CMG site now.

Man caught cheating on wife!

2005-09-29T16:07:00.000-04:00

Empty replacements cause weight gain
by Joel and Michaela CôtéSelig

Last night, Michaela CôtéSelig, baker extraordinaire for CBC Key Demographic (CBCKD), caught her husband, Joel, leaving a known bakery with Ms. E. Clair Pastry. "I caught believe it's gone this far!" exclaims Michaela. "The lockout has brought my husband to conduct a most disloyal act."

Two weeks ago, we learned about how the CBC lockout had affected Joel. He was losing weight at an incredible pace as Michaela was providing what were normally his baked goods to the members of the Canadian Media Guild on the Sparks Street picket line in Ottawa.

"I first started to get suspicious that Joel was cheating on me when I noticed he getting a little softer around the edges," Michaela explains. "And then there was the powdered sugar and custard stains on his clothes. That's when I knew without a doubt."

"I couldn't hold out any longer without the quality baking I come to expect from my lovely wife," explained Joel.

Now into its sixth week, the lockout has affected normal listening and viewing patterns of the CBC audience. Like Joel turning to commercial baked goods, some CBC viewers are turning to private television and radio. The longer the lockout continues, the more the CBC is in danger of losing large audience numbers—especially those in the key demographic, ages 18 to 35—who are tempted to turn the dial and risk a future CBC audience.

"But, the replacement baked goods just don't cut it," clarified Joel. "They leave me feeling empty; they are void of substance. And now that I'm left to watch private television, I'm being lead to buy fast food and prefab cookies." Pointing to his pastry-filled belly, Joel grieves "and now look at me, I look like the Prime Minister before he went on that Clay Aikins diet."

Like good home-cooked meals in the dining rooms of our country, there is definitely an important role for public broadcasting in Canadian homes. The CBC does not easily compromise artistic integrity for commercial appeal—this fact is apparent in their radio and children's television programming. Some commercial television, on the other hand, is little less than empty calories for the mind.

The integrity of public broadcasting also allows for real dialogue amongst Canadians of all regions. Issues are raised, authentic conversations are facilitated, ideas are shared—that is, until the lockout began. The CBC is the only truly national network connecting all Canadians across the country. But how can the country speak when its voice has been silenced?

"This lockout has disrupted my family. I don't know what is going on in my husband's world, nor with my sisters in Winnipeg and St. John," Michaela cries. "Save my family, bring back the CBC."

Two cakes, one

2005-09-29T15:42:00.000-04:00

There was apple cake this morning in Ottawa and Winnipeg, and I didn't take a picture of either. The above cake, however, made an appearance at the Save Our CBC event.

I do have other, less compelling, pictographical (please oh please let that be a real word) evidence of said apple cake below.

Anyway, things seem to be looking up somewhat.

Here's to hope.

Joel in Ottawa

2005-09-28T19:23:00.000-04:00

Prime Minister Martin,

I am writing to you to encourage you to please intervene in getting a rapid and fair resolution to the CBC lockout. The longer this labour dispute continues, the more irreparable harm will be done to this essential nation building institution.

The CBC is still a viable unifying medium. Although not every Canadian turns to the CBC for all their information and entertainment, every Canadian is affected by the labour dispute. Football and hockey fans will receive paltry coverage of the beloved sports. Current affairs junkies are left out of the loop with irrelevant BBC broadcasts. Our wittiest comedians are left to crack jokes on the picket lines instead of in our living rooms. Even yourself will be directly affected when the first scrum will take place after question period when Julie Van Dusen, Eric Sorenson and Keith Boag are not there to act as the voice of Canadians coast to coast to coast.

The CBC Radio acts as the direct line to the country and to the world for many people like the mother of Senator Jim Munsen (please ask him about how the lockout has affected his family). For myself, it was CBC Radio that connected me to my new city. It provided continuity from moving from Winnipeg to Ottawa; although the voices were different, the necessary information was provided to me in the most professional and closely to objective fashion that we can only expect from the CBC. Private radio leaves me wishing that I was back in Manitoba whereas the CBC makes me feel like home everywhere in Canada.

The CBC is to provide Canadians with a public service. Currently, they are not living up to its raison-d'être to the country. As proud owners of the nation's best radio and television networks, we demand the return of the people that make the CBC great.

As our Prime Minister, you have the power to bring back the CBC to the people. Canadians want Canadian programming. We want to hear our stories, watch our own actors, witness our history and we can not do that without our public broadcaster. We need your help.

With confidence,

Joel [ ]

Ottawa

We bake because we care

2005-09-23T16:36:00.000-04:00

40 days. Can you believe it's been 40 days? It's like being on an ark.

Our morale's been lagging for want of public broadcasting goodness, so, since they were such a success early on, we brought back the picket cupcakes yesterday—at least two of every kind. Knowing how much we love and need the CBC, it's hard to imagine what it's like a) to have had the privilege of working there; and b) to have that privilege revoked, by dint of either an expired contract or this bloody lock out. I guess things are still moving and progress must be being made, but in this particular moment, I just have to say THIS SUCKS: FIX IT. Thank you.

On a sunnier note, one of our very own was out on the line here in Ottawa this week. A team of J-schoolers came out yesterday at lunch to support their future colleagues. Read more h ere.

Some of us are heading out to this thing tonight. Filling the void, I suppose. I think we'll bring a cake.

Be good

2005-09-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

I expect readers of this blog will appreciate and enjoy this entry from Matt Watts, even if you don't remember the Frantics: http://mattwatts.blogspot.com/2005/09/frantics-are-not-on-cbc.html

Ottawa man wasting away to nothing

2005-09-16T11:10:00.000-04:00

Wife bakes for CBC employees, not husband
by Joel CôtéSelig

"It's been almost a month since I've eaten a cookie," lamented Joel CôtéSelig, an unintended victim of the CBC lock-out. "The lock-out has to stop immediately or there won't be anything left of me except skin and bones.

"My wife no longer bakes for me. No cookies, no cake, not even pie. Everything she makes, it's for the locked-out CBC employees."

Joel is another innocent bystander caught between the labour troubles at the CBC. For nearly a month now, Joel's spouse, Michaela has been a member of the group bloggers and bakers named CBC Key Demographic (CBC KD).

Based in Ottawa, CBC KD is a nationwide grouping of 18- to 35- year-old listeners and viewers of CBC radio and television who seek the rapid and fair resolution of the labour strife that has disrupted their lives in many ways. The CBC KD bloggers have demonstrated their support for the locked-out members of the Canadian Media Guild by publishing online their blog letters sent to CBC leaders and members of parliament demanding the return of the CBC. Most importantly, they have demonstrated their support on the picket lines by providing freshly baked goods to members of the CMG every week since the beginning of the lock-out.

Under normal circumstances, these delicious but hardly nutritious treats would have been eaten by Joel and others living with members of CBC KD. "The CBC's actions are purely selfish and creating more victims than they realize. Not only they are depriving Canadians of world-class information and entertainment, they are depriving me of the midnight snacks that I depend on to get me through the night," whimpered Joel over the rumble of hunger in his baked good-free stomach.

"I can admit that there have been some positives that have come out of the CBC lock-out. Amazingly, I've managed to lose those pesky 2 kilos that I could not rid with neither exercise nor low-carb diets. And most importantly, with no competition from Ian Hanomansing or Shelagh Rogers, my wife has more time for me … in the bedroom if you know what I mean. That is unless she is up late baking for the CBC."

For the health and wellness of victims like Joel, please contact your local member of parliament and CBC management to demand the rapid and fair resolution of the labour dispute. For every Joel we hear about, there are another 2 that are suffering a similar fate.

Kari in Edmonton

2005-09-15T14:05:00.000-04:00

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: this one came in a while ago and we forgot to post it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Kari [ ]
Date: Aug 27, 2005 2:26 AM
Subject: CBC lockout
To: Frulla.L@parl.gc.ca, Goldring.P@parl.gc.ca, Martin.P@parl.gc.ca, robert_rabinovitch@cbc.ca, jane_chalmers@cbc.ca
Cc: cbckeydemo@gmail.com

Dear all,

I wish to express my concern regarding the labour dispute at the CBC.

The CBC is many things to many people. Its importance as a cohesive element in our national psyche cannot be overstated. Whether they're catching the odd CFL game or tuning in to As It Happens every night after dinner, almost every Canadian has a direct connection with our national broadcaster.

But others have expressed this more eloquently and passionately. (Some who share my concerns have shared their views at http://www.cbckeydemo.blogspot.com/.) What I wish to offer instead is an account of the CBC's importance in my life.

It is difficult for me to express fully what the CBC means to me as a young Canadian. CBC radio, in particular, is a big part of my past. One of my earliest memories is of the Morningside theme playing from my aunt's radio. Whenever I came home from school in Calgary, the radio was on, tuned to 1010 am. I remember sitting in the driveway for what seemed like an hour, not wanting to turn off the car radio until the election results came in.

Until the lockout, the CBC was a big part of my current life. Radio One was the first thing I heard in the morning and the last thing I heard at night. Any major event came to me first by way of Judy Maddren or Ian Hanomansing, or maybe George Stroumboulopoulos. I mourned when Peter Gzowski died, deeply affected by his influence on the lives of Canadians across the country.

I hope desperately that the CBC will play a significant role in my future. When I allow myself to imagine my ideal career, I picture myself as Shelagh Rogers or Barbara Budd. It is my dream to work as a broadcaster on CBC radio.

More than anything, more than my disconnect from the local information I crave, more than my sympathy for the journalists whose work I admire, more than my concern for the public image of the CBC, it is my dream of being a broadcaster that motivates me to write to you. While the minutiae of the labour dispute are bewildering to outsiders like me, I know that there is a simple solution to this problem, and it is a solution which you actually have the power to implement: increased government support.

The workers at the CBC have demonstrated their desire to continue with the jobs they love: even while on lockout, they are publishing blogs, broadcasting on community stations, and offering streetside weather reports. The management of the CBC clearly wishes to continue to produce a quality product, given Mr. Rabinovitch's optimistic and positive message in the 2003-04 annual report: to say "Our goal will remain constant—to serve the citizens of this country by offering the best Canadian programming found anywhere" clearly indicates a commitment to this organization that we love and depend upon.

Your support will ensure that both the management and the workers can fulfill their vision. Your swift action will restore the national connection that will atrophy as long as original programming is off the air. Your continuous commitment is the only assurance that the CBC, a true national treasure, will be protected. With enough government support, the CBC will continue to produce quality programming, enduring personalities, and the reliable information we all depend on.

Please, for the future of broadcasting and broadcasters, do what is in your power to restore the CBC.

Kari

Cake uncupped

2005-09-14T10:04:00.000-04:00

Another week without the CBC, another baking spree. If the lockout keeps up much longer, we're going to need more flour.

Please, if you haven't already, write a letter to the editor (see last week's comment from Susan) or at least to your MP (and don't forget to cc us).

Jason in Toronto

2005-09-14T08:24:00.000-04:00

From: jason [ ]
Date: Sep 6, 2005 10:47 PM
Subject: CBC ~~~~ Come back ~~~~~
To: cbckeydemo@gmail.com

Hi, I am an international student at Ryerson in Toronto. I used to listen to the CBC radio on a daily basis until this lockout took place.

Without the CBC, I feel like I am being kept in the dark. I do not [know] what is happening in Toronto Today. I want my CBC back. I just can't get used to listening to other radio stations with commercials pouring out every few minutes.

Bring it back.

By the way, I am a taxpayer just like other Canadians and I pay tax on everything I buy here.

- CBC suppoter

And that's the way the cookie crumbles

2005-09-09T12:59:00.000-04:00

On a happier note, the CBC folks seemed to be really touched by our baked good this week.

Sure, we are sad and frustrated, but we remain vigilant and will continue to bring CBC-logo-decorated treats to the locked-out workers.

Note to picket line: this cookie may contain traces of pent-up anger (at management, not you), incredulity (who the hell responded to that G&M poll?) and love (ok, that's for you).

Let's hope this thing ends soon, but in the meantime, make some cookies—it'll raise your spirits in these sad times. We'll be back next week.

P.S. We just got a little rocked by the spam this afternoon, so we're trying out this word verification contraption on the comments. If it's too big of a hassle though, we'll go back to deleting the junk as it comes in. Sorry for any inconvenience.

And this week's Dumbass Award goes to . . .

2005-09-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

Throughout this dreadful lockout (which has gone on far too long already), I've been going to the online version of the Globe and Mail for my news fix. And yesterday, I'm sure you all saw it, the poll asked, "Does Canada need the CBC?" Sadly, 59% of those who voted said no. Can you believe it? And it wasn't like there were only 50 votes. Oh no, there were 48,104 votes in total! That's a lot of dumbasses. But, rather than tracking each one down and handing out individual Dumbass Awards, I'm just going to present a collective award to the whole lot of them. Congratulations to each and every one of you—you truly deserve it.

I don't need to go into the reasons that we need the CBC. It's been said much more eloquently by other people on this site and on the street. Just let me say that the flow of information that streams at us every day needs to be intellectual, and it needs to be more than just information. It needs to be well researched, well contextualized and well articulated so that we're being given knowledge, not just information. And the CBC does that best. So let them do it!

I carried a watermelon.

2005-08-31T13:04:00.000-04:00

Two of them (sliced), actually, and three of us took turns carrying them. I know, Watermelon Wednesday wasn't the best way to go on a day as rainy as this, but it looked cool and was way easier (not to mention healthier) than all those cupcakes, plus we planned it before we checked the weather report.

This week's effort was once again coordinated with Winnipeg. If you want to get in on the fun (we've got to do something to entertain ourselves with the CBC off the air) in your city, e-mail us for the next logo-shaped-food theme, and keep those letters coming! Although, who knows, maybe by this time next week there won't be any picket lines to visit—fingers crossed for today's talks.

Dominic in Winnipeg

2005-08-30T09:58:00.000-04:00

From: dominic []
To: Frulla.L@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Jane_Chalmers@cbc.ca, Fontana.J@parl.gc.ca, Bagnell.L@parl.gc.ca, Martin.Pd@parl.gc.ca, cbckeydemo@gmail.com, pleasevoteforpedro@gmail.com
Date: Aug 26, 2005 6:02 PM
Subject: In support of the Canadian Media Guild

Winnipeg, Manitoba
August 26, 2005

Dear Minister Frulla,

I am writing to you to express my concerns over the CBC lockout. I am hoping that you and the other members of both government and the CBC will take some action over this sad event.

I am not writing to tell you how good CBC programming is, or which shows I am missing. As a former member of the media, you already know the standards to which CBC employees hold themselves. Instead, I am writing to tell you how important it is for Canada to defend its public broadcaster. While I wish I would hear As It Happens on weeknights and Go on Saturday mornings, I live in downtown Winnipeg and as such I have other options. Rural Canadians, on the whole, do not and through this lockout are being deprived of culture and in danger of being cut off from the rest of the country.

Though I am now in Manitoba, I have lived at various times in my adult life in Calgary, Vancouver, and both Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon Territory. I have a good grasp of life in various parts of Canada, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the CBC is important everywhere. The best example I can think of is hockey - would private sector broadcasters send NHL hockey for free all over the country, from downtown Toronto to the high arctic? I think not. Use the same analogy and substitute news, movies, comedy, documentaries, or whatever other form of entertainment you prefer on either radio or TV, and you get the same result. The CBC is the only broadcaster committed to providing information to every single Canadian.

CBC brass may argue that the Corporation needs to become more like private sector broadcasters, but I would like to state unequivocally that this is not so. In fact, the CBC needs to not act like others, simply because it performs a different service. If it turns into a carbon copy of Global, CTV, CHUM, or Chorus, what is the point of having it at all?

The CBC must also be allowed to continue nurturing, training, and rewarding its staff. The less job security, the less pride of workmanship there is in any situation. The CBC is a vital institution and must not be sacrificed on this alter of supposed “competitiveness”. Why pay a staff member when you can contract someone to do it for half the price? The answer is that Canadians will get what they pay for, and they will not be happy.

The people we hear and see on CBC are our friends – we spend time with them every day and they bring something to our lives that reminds us we are Canadian. I urge you to intervene and let our friends go back to work. Public broadcasting makes Canada great, and quality staff make Canadian public broadcasting great. Please don’t let the CBC management kill it.

Dominic []

Andrea in Ottawa

2005-08-27T11:08:00.000-04:00

From: Andrea []
To: Martin.P@parl.gc.ca, Frulla.L@parl.gc.ca, arnold_amber@cbc.ca, robert_rabinovitch@cbc.ca
Cc: cbckeydemo@gmail.com
Date: Aug 26, 2005 4:30 PM
Subject: CBC lockout

Dear Prime Minister, Minister Frulla and Messrs. Amber and Rabinovitch,

I am writing to you, as a public stakeholder in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, to urge each of your respective offices to do everything possible to remedy the lockout situation at the CBC by ensuring that negotiations resume immediately. I am certain that I need not go into lengthy detail about the cultural and the monetary damage being inflicted upon the CBC and upon Canada as a whole due to the current situation. I feel this situation speaks to the Public Service’s over-reliance on contract and temporary staffing as a whole, which tries to circumvent the Public Service’s own overly-strict hiring policies and the rendering of employee benefits. Initially, this appears to save time and money, but given the reaction of CBC staff on the picket lines, I am guessing that they also see the false savings and the accompanying lack of employment stability. From what I gathered by visiting the Ottawa CBC picket line today, however, staff appear eager to negotiate and to get back to work: I urge each of you to work together to get the CBC back on the air. Please do not allow this dispute to cost Canada such a great institution, such a great Canadian voice.

I look forward to remaining in contact with all of you, with a view to ensuring that an acceptable resolution to the CBC lockout is reached. Please accept my best wishes and my support for your swift and decisive action toward resolving the CBC lockout.

Sincerely,
Andrea []
Ottawa

Joanna in Iowa

2005-08-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

August 26th, 2005

Joanna []
IA, USA

To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Joanna [], and I am from Calgary, Alberta. I have lived in Iowa for the past two years while attending Chiropractic college. I have been dismayed, as we all are, by the recent labour dispute between the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Canadian Media Guild (CMG). This dispute is the newest event in a slow devaluing and dismantling of our national public broadcasting service. I understand all labour discussions are inherently complex, and I will not pretend to understand all the intricacies of the dispute. I am writing to share my understanding of the importance of national media, and affirm the necessity of a satisfied and secure workforce for fulfillment of the CBC mandate.

The CBC/Radio-Canada Corporate Plan Summary for 2004-2005 to 2008-2009: Building For the Future states:
"As Canada’s national public broadcaster, the Corporation exists to help Canadians understand and appreciate themselves within both the Canadian and world contexts. In essence, Canadians turn to their national public broadcaster to help them connect to the Canadian experience."

This mandate has been elaborated in various ways to include: deepening regional roots, ensuring pan-Canadian program content, setting the standard for Canadian journalism, reflecting Canadian stories, emphasizing our multicultural and multiracial nature, and reaching Canadians wherever they live. I see CBC as the line of communication that entangles the individual minds and hearts of our citizens. Without this netting, this transmission of words and ideas, we lose track of each other, lose cohesion, lose our national voice.

Whenever a new controversy brings the status of the CBC back to the forefront, there are always those who complain nationalized media has become irrelevant and too expensive. These voices always proclaim how little they use CBC, how poor the programming is, and again, how dearly all this “third-rate” broadcasting hits the taxpayers’ wallet. This always frustrates me, because the existence of national media is not just about personal experience, not just about the audience. Even if I don’t religiously watch or listen to anything on CBC, this does not mean I find it worthless, useless, or unimportant. I find simple security in the fact I can make the choice to participate, profound comfort in the mere presence of the CBC. Anything that makes its existence seem precarious robs me of this comfort, presents a Canada where I might not have the choice, and that insecurity detracts from my Canadian experience, even if I don’t catch Vinyl Café or Tapestry every Sunday. Consider the significance of my opinions, given my membership in the famously desirable 18-35 year old demographic. A visit to cbckeydemo.blogspot.com will demonstrate how many of my fellow constituents likewise believe in the importance of the CBC.

Although the primary role of national media may be user-ship, it plays an important political role, in representing our national framework to the world. Media is the great international equalizer. I agree with Carole Taylor “that Canada has something important to offer the world at this particular moment in history: our values, our ideas, our talent …our experience as a compassionate, bilingual, multicultural country.” CBC does not exist, first, for our pleasure, second. It does not stand abstractly as the creator of Canadian substance for the citizens to consume. We, the people, the citizens, the audience, exist first, for the dissemination of the CBC, second. We provide the substance of Canadian thought and experience out of which CBC programming is fostered. As it holds our national consciousness together, we can then turn around and hold it out to the world.

What does it say about a country when they can’t organize and fund a coherent national media? How can a country claim to have a national spirit, a national identity, if they don’t carry a national voice? Public broadcasting is recognized across the globe as essential for maintaining national identity. Consider the BBC in England, NPR and PBS in the United States, other national voices in Australia, France, and Japan. Our broadcasts are our testament, to the world, about what this country stands for, what this country means. Carole Taylor continues, “You can’t be an independent strong nation in any meaningful way without a vibrant, beating sense of who we are, what our stories are, what our values are, what our history is.” The message is WE ARE; the medium is the Canadian Broadcast.

This lockout means the national voice has been so diminished, so silenced, so devalued, the Corporation refuses to commit to sustained resources for its maintenance. Resources are not only monetary; resources comprise physical space, physical people, and physical funds. The CBC has chosen to dismiss the people, chosen to empty their work-spaces, chosen profit for themselves over profit to the nation. To fulfill its mandate, the CBC must be committed to hiring and keeping quality employees, to providing a stable, functional work-space, and funding the necessary technology and training to fit the changing media environment. In fact, Section IV, D. of the CBC/Radio-Canada Corporate Plan states:

"The Corporation is committed to creating and maintaining a work environment where employees are equipped and motivated to succeed in their work, where they understand how their work fits into the Corporation’s overall direction, and where they have the opportunity to continually improve their skills and pursue a career path that benefits both them and the Corporation."

What motivates a work-force that has been literally expelled from their work environment? How can an employee fit their work into the Corporation’s overall direction without certainty about their own future in the Corporation? Where is the opportunity to train continually in a temporary, fluctuating work team?

Marshall McLuhan once said, “I am not, by temperament or conviction, a revolutionary: I would prefer a stable, changeless environment of modest services and human scale.” I think this is everything I ask of the CBC, a stable Canadian reporting of Canadian humanity. This is everything Canada asks of the CBC, and I believe, everything CMG asks, also. No one in this dispute is trying to revolutionize Canadian media, because the world has already provided us with a background of constant change and flux. We are all looking for policy that ensures stability in the face of that change. I call on the Corporation to re-affirm their own commitment to their staff, the 5500 creative minds that bring cohesion to our 31 million voices. I call on the Ministry of Canadian Heritage and the government to confirm its commitment to the Corporation. I hope for a speedy resolution, and return of the CMG employees to their posts, satisfied and secure on all sides.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Joanna []

Resources:
CBC/Radio-Canada Coporate Plan Summary for 2004-2005 to 2008-2009: Building for the Future. June 2004.

“Public Broadcasting: Why Bother? “ Carole Taylor, Chair, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada. The Canadian Club Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario: October 22, 2003.

John Robert Colombo’s Famous Lasting Words: Great Canadian Quotations. Douglas & McIntyre, 2000.

http://cbckeydemo.blogspot.com

Our first letter!

2005-08-25T15:36:00.000-04:00

Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 23:00:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: [ ]
Subject: Lock Out
To: Frulla.L@parl.gc.ca, pm@pm.gc.ca, robert_rabinovitch@cbc.ca,
Neville.A@parl.gc.ca, Jane_Chalmers@cbc.ca, Fontana.J@parl.gc.ca

Dear Honourable Members of the Government and Members of the CBC Leadership,

Tonight I have spent the evening baking cupcakes to deliver tomorrow morning to the locked out CBC workers who normally keep me aware, educated and entertained. It is an act of solidarity I would like to expand on by taking the time to tell you how important the CBC is to me.

I live in Winnipeg South Centre and have friends living in Ottawa who have spent the evening doing the same as I. We realize that we represent an important demographic, as we are all aged 18-35.

In the morning I wake up to the Manitoba Morning show, and stay tuned for the big voice and the Current as well as Sounds Like Canada. On Saturdays I wake up early just for the House and Go. I watch the CBC National online. And I check the website several times a day. If I had cable I would be a huge fan of the Hour, instead I just watch all the video clips which make it onto the website.

I am afraid to imagine what Canada would be like without the CBC. I think, like many of your listeners, I count on CBC radio to connect me with parts of Country I am separated from. Gzowski was practically off the air when I started tuning in but the lady he interviewed walking around the chicken farm will always seem like my friend. And I have only ever been on a real farm once. Sometimes I listen to the news online in the Yukon because I have never been to Northern Canada and love to hear about that world.

This labour dispute, of course, goes beyond my nostalgia (of which I could write forever) it deals with the kind of work force we are creating in Canada. One which can be replaced at any moment. One that leaves us focusing on what we will do next instead of doing what we are doing now.

I want the Canada I live in to be one where public radio receives the support it needs from our government and creates a secure workforce. Please find a way to resolve this lock out quickly so we can return to the regularly scheduled programming which I love so much.

Thank You,

[ ]

Support your local picket line

2005-08-25T09:46:00.000-04:00

There are people out there who love their job who aren't being allowed to do it, and that's sad. We love their job too, so we decided a baking blitz was our best course of action. Nothing says labour solidarity quite like four dozen cupcakes at 8:15 in the morning!

Liberal MP tires of aggressive lockouts

2005-08-25T09:40:00.000-04:00

That's my headline, by the way. From this morning's Globe and Mail article about the Liberal caucus meeting in Regina:

"Outside of the caucus room, Quebec MPs complained about the CBC lockout.
Montreal MP Denis Coderre criticized CBC President Bob Rabinovitch for repeatedly locking-out CBC employees over the past five years."

Why the blog?

2005-08-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Broadcast Corporation has taken aggressive action by locking out 5,500 of its dedicated employees. While this lockout is intended to intimidate the Canadian Media Guild, it also affects the CBC's radio, tv and web audiences.
The contributors to this blog are part of the highly coveted 18-35 age demographic - one which in general tends to be lacking in CBC audiences - who fully and completely support the union against the Mother Corp. We are unconnected with the CBC, other than being avid listeners, viewers and readers. We call on CBC President Robert Rabinovitch and the CBC management to get back to the bargaining table and ensure that the employees can return to work, providing the balanced, informative and thoughtful programming we expect.

If you want to support the Canadian Media Guild, please do one of the following:

Call Audience Relations: 1-866-306-4636
E-mail CBC President and Acting Board Chair Robert Rabinovitch at robert_rabinovitch@cbc.ca
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper
Lobby your local federal politician, Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla, and Prime Minister Paul Martin (here's an alphabetical listing of MPs - click on a name for the MP's contact information - and here's a place to look up your MP using your postal code)
Hang a sign of support
Head out to the picket line and give the picketers your support. Remember - they are not on strike. They have been locked out from their jobs and from their e-mail, cell phones and other office tools. The corporation is making money by locking out the staff since they will not pay the staff for the duration of the lockout.

Visit the Canadian Media Guild website or the CBC Unplugged website for more information. There are lots of great blogs about this and some interesting discussions in the forum. Just for starters, here's one of the CBC Ottawa blogs. It also has links to other CBC blogs.

There's more to come! Thanks for reading.