That Lovin' Feeling.

I have not actually been back in the building yet, such is life as a casual. I have heard from the inside though that many are experiencing a sense of loss since the lock out ended. People are feeling that everything has returned to normal, that the sense of purpose and unity are gone or fading fast. I've also heard from a few that things aren't back to normal because they are not 'going the extra mile' anymore: no more overtime, postponing lunch etc.,

It doesn't need to be that way. The unity we had on the line can continue and in many ways the new mission is going to be more challenging than ending the lock out. A big part of the reason we were as successful as we were in fighting the lock out was that the public knew that what the CBC does is more than a job. It's a public service, an essential part of Canadiana: Telling Canada's stories, and bringing news and information about the world we live in to their televisions, radios and computer screens.

In order to accomplish that, to prove it a worthwhile task to the CBC's detractors, to win back the audience that was lost, and to build a stronger, healthier CBC to hand down to future generations we have to have unity, we have to have a sense of our mission, and we have to go the extra mile.

Whether you are one of the public faces or voices of the CBC, a reporter, producer, ap, technician, set builder, designer, fixer of broken things, a clerk, an accountant etc., etc., etc., we all have our roles to play in what goes out to the public. Try to keep the whole picture in mind as you work - both the big picture you see and hear on the air and the small picture of what everyone around you contributes to that big picture.

I know that everyone is very busy getting the ship righted and moving forward again, but maintaining our unity is a flexible exercise. Take a minute to go for a coffee with friends outside your department, take an evening on the weekend for a meetup at a local pub, take a few minutes in the evening to send emails to new friends just to say hi, there are also several ways to stay in touch through publicbroadcasting.ca and you can even do this anonymously if that suits you better.

Keep talking to friends, family and co-workers about the CBC, about it's future, about what changes can and should be made to make it better and stronger, about what changes we have to prepare for based on new technology and social change.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record; the battle was won but in many ways the war just got harder. What, after all, was the point of saving our jobs if we are just going to let the institution that provides those jobs and more importantly provides the Canadian public with a vital service continue to die a slow death taking those jobs and that service with it.

The unity and sense of purpose are still there, if you want them.