CBC Lockout

Rather than get into the broader picture of what is going on in the broader National or International picture I'm going to focus, for the moment, on something closer to home. The CBC Lockout has been a startling development on a number of levels and I should say right off the bat that I'm on the lines in Toronto. I am not full time staff, I am a "casual" employee, under contract and come in when they call. But, today I'm not going to go into the management vs. labour issues, instead I'm going to focus on what makes the CBC worth saving and fighting for.

I have been quite disturbed by the number of comments I've read and heard disparaging the CBC, claiming that it is of limited value, and should not be subsidized. The CBC costs the average Canadian about $30 a year or about 2.60 a month. For this Canada recieves one of the best news services in the world. CBC News is well connected, experienced, reputable and reliable. They have neither a right wing, nor a left wing slant. The people who make this claim are not upset because CBC is biased, they are upset because CBC is not biased.

Because the CBC reported on the "Same Sex Marriage Debate" rather than the "Assault on Traditional Marriage" the right wing claims they are biased. Because they reported on the "Sponsorship Scandal" without specifically condemning anyone both sides claim the CBC is a government mouthpiece. You can generally measure how unbiased a source is by the claims of bias made by either fringe.

The claim is also made that the CBC, if it is providing a valuable service, should be able to function without govnernment dollars. I disagree with this as well. The CBC should not be about ratings, it should be about providing accurate and timely information, about telling Canadian stories, about providing a point of reference to a large nation whose regions have few ties on a day to day basis as well as providing local news to areas that otherwise would have no local news.

In addition to news, CBC provides music and entertainment, hilighting Canadian stories and Canadian entertainers and then of course there is sports, Hockey Night In Canada, the CFL, curling etc., and there is high quality children's programming.

There is a claim that all of this would be provided by the private sector if the CBC dissapeared, but I see nothing to back this up. In the US, where PBS has been allowed to fall further and further in terms of budget, the void has been filled by networks that provide less real news and more cheap sensationalism. No other Canadian network has the depth of coverage, or the international coverage that the CBC does and what they do provide, I would argue, is there because they have to compete with the CBC and much of it would dissapear quickly if the CBC were gone.

Do the people of Canada really want to rely on U.S. news outlets for international news? The same outlets that accepted without question that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism? CBC is not, and should not be about ratings, or making money, it should be about providing quality, reliable programming for those who want it - not about more pablum for the masses and if this is not worth $2.60 a month to you, or even a whole $3 (the approximate cost of a good capachino) then it is not the value of the CBC that is in question, but your values.