In a previous thread, several commenters pointed out that a write-in campaign has been started by the “Sycophants Friends of the CBC”. Their intent is to stop the federal gov’t from cutting funds to the CBC. Perhaps you have a somewhat different view?! Feel free to use their web page as a template for your thoughts but also be sure to copy & paste your thoughts to Stephen Harper’s office directly. Also don’t hesitate to share your e-mail in the comments here.
If you’re stumped for ideas, you might want to watch this video by Lee Doren. Whenever you hear or see “NPR” or “PBS”, just substitute in “CBC”!
SDA gets results…?
Schiller and Schiller finished at NPR ..
Next … CBC ….
I still kinda new (4 months?) to Lee Doren & his “How the world works” Youtube channel, but his style and concisely stated views are sure to be even more successful as the word gets out regarding him.
Good stuff Robert.
Sent my letter off
LOL!
That was fun; here’s my version of “friends'” letter:
Don’t stop cuts to the CBC; increase them.
I believe that your government has made record investments in the CBC, more than any other party in the history of Canada, and that your government has increased CBC funding in every budget.
Notwithstanding, I am constantly shocked and concerned with the blatant anti-Conservative bias, errors and omissions continuously displayed by CBC program presenters.
The CBC claims it is one of the few institutions that works to strengthen our democracy and our identity as Canadians. However, clearly the organization does not represent the views of large portions of the population; therefore such claims are spurious at best and, in my opinion, deceitful.
I am writing to urge you to continue with cutting funding for the CBC from its current level of $33 per Canadian per year to, ultimately, zero. CBC should be privatized and made to fend for itself in the open market. If Canadians support the CBC, then surely they will be prepared to finance it as a private broadcaster? In fact, it is unconscionable that a public broadcaster not only does not represent a large percentage of the population, but uses the power of the state to actively compete against private enterprise and campaign against a large percentage of citizens!
Eliminate the funding and save me $33 per year that I can spend according to my wishes.
Please get back to me.
Hopefully my letter will get through. In case they’ve got a filter to weed out SDA letters, this is what I wrote:
As a taxpayer I’m furious that the government is spending $1 billion on the CBC. The only thing I can see as a result of this waste of money is the hiring of individuals determined to hasten the fall of western civilization and giving them a public voice. I don’t listen to CBC and there is no CBC TV where I live and I strongly object to my taxes going to such crap.
There is no role for government in broadcasting which should be entirely private. As there are no objective sources of broadcast news in Canada, I simply don’t listen to any Canadian TV news or read any Canadian newspapers. The blogosphere and internet provide far better quality information than the Marxist ideology that permeates the MSM.
The size of government needs to be reduced drastically and one of the easiest places to start is the CBC as it will also be the least missed. Perhaps the people who work there can then finally find some productive employment unless they’ve become too accustomed to being social parasites.
Done.
1 billion dollars to the CBC every year. Would this money be better spent on health care? My grandmother waited 2 years in Sask. for hip surgery, this was at the time my grandfather was going downhill in a nursing home. Grandma had to limit her visits to the home to see Grandpa as walking became difficult. This was a f’n crime. I will never forgive the Provincial NDP or any federal party that wastes money on shit like the CBC. Go f yourself and your group. By the way, Grandma and Grandpa have money because they saved all there lives. She would have paid to have surgery but not available in SOCIALIST Sask. My Letter
“I know you would like me to believe that your government has made financial cuts to the CBC, more than any other party in the history of Canada, and that your government needs to divest itself of the CBC funding in every budget.
That is why I am thrilled to learn that your spending plan for the coming year includes a reduction in CBC funding.
The CBC is one of many institutions that works to weaken our democracy and our identity as Canadians. I am writing to urge you to stand firm and ignore the advice of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and decrease funding for the CBC from its current level of $33 per Canadian per year to $10 in your March 22nd budget.
This would still cost too much each day!
Please cut the CBC!”
My letter:
Please decrease CBC funding.
The CBC is biased, untruthful, complacent, slanted, and very selective in its reporting. Please privatize the CBC and give the money to our Canadian forces, an entity that actually needs it.
Thank you.
My letter:
The CBC is damaging. The CBC claims gun owners are potential criminals. The CBC claims Christians are silly. The CBC claims people who hate taxes are racist. The CBC claims David Suzuki, Heather Mallick, Maria Antromotti and other radical leftwingers are fair & balanced. (Funny how you won’t find any right wingers at CBC!) The CBC claims that all cultures are equal. The CBC claims that Canada’s military is imperialistic. The CBC is destroying this country and western civilization.
Please stop subsidizing the CBC’s waste and unaccountability.
“CBC should be less selective in its reporting. CBC falls behind other broadcasters because we don’t get the truth or the real story from any of its news outlets.
One aspect I really like is that Ezra Levant is sometimes on your network. He tells it the way it is; something that CBC deosn’t do. I am a feminist, much like your Heather Mallick, but i don’t agree with her one bit. Here’s the CBC’s Modus Operandi of lies:
Homelessness? it’s because working people don’t pay enough taxes.
Islamophobia? It’s because muslim countries are peaceful and misunderstood, and we should welcome and celebrate middle-east barbaric culture.
USA? Evil.
Western Europe? Good. (But don’t report on their immigrant problems, oh no..)
George Bush? Evil.
Obama? Good.
Harper? Struggling.
Elizabeth May? Graceful beacon of hope.
Gun-owners? Evil.
Wikileaks? Truthful goodness.
Climategate? Evil provocateurs.
See why Canadians have tuned out? You need to include rural/working/traditionalist people in your programming, and stop the waste. Please also stop the left-wing bias. These are my suggestions.”
CBC once, a long time ago, provided a valuable service!
I remember listening to Ma Perkins, and other imported stuff as a kid.
But I am now growen up, and have a great distain for the product offered in the guise of Nationalism and political bias, I think the time has come for their departure as presently known.
Give them an opportunity to commercialize, and see what happens. I find it hard to believe that they would be capable of attracting many national sponsers!
I don’t trust a form from friends.ca to do the right thing. You have no idea where your information is going and no guarantee that your message isn’t being replaced with something else, or just turfed entirely while the operators of friends.ca store your personal information.
Just sayin..
You’re dealing with professional activists there.
I made a couple of minor revisions to the stock letter:
I know that our government has made expenditures in the CBC.
That is why I am shocked and concerned to learn that you plan to spend more money in the coming year on CBC funding.
The CBC is one of several institutions destroys our democracy and our identity as Canadians. I am writing to urge you to follow the advice of decent people who do not want their tax dollars used to subsidize the abomination known as the CBC. I would urge you to change the funding from its current level of $33 per Canadian per year to $0 in your March 22nd budget.
This would cost each of us nothing!
Please get back to me.
If anyone knows a member of “Friends of the CBC”, could someone ask them why CBC News isn’t covering the Vivian Schiller resignation story? Not one peep!
Mine was straight-forward and simple.
Do Cut the CBC
Cut funding to the CBC and make it privatise. If the CBC is meant to thrive it will all on its own. Without our tax-dollars.
(with cc to Mr Harper as instructed)
I’ll bet the angry phone call from the Fiends of CBC will be coming next!
Cut the CBC
I’m delighted to learn that your spending plan for the coming year includes a reduction in CBC funding.
The CBC is long past its Best Before Date (assuming it had one in the first place) and is one of the most divisive institutions this country has to offer – public or private.
I am writing to urge you to continue on your path of withdrawing funding from the CBC. If the CBC is perceived by Canadians as having merit or relevance, I’m sure they will be happy to support it through voluntary donations.
Oh lets make this a home run.
cut the funding to the cbc.
and the cwb at the same time…
what a day that will be.
I know you would like me to believe that your government has made record investments in the CBC, and if that is true, it’s a waste of money. A billion dollars is a thousand million and that’s way, way too much money.
Make CBC TV a competitor in the public market and see whether it sinks or swims on it’s own merit. The should attract sponsors from the crowds that claim they support it and compete with other mainstream channels for market share.
CBC radio is a different matter. It’s basically the only communication that many people in Canada have access to and as such should be helped to rid itself of the Leftist bias that has come to be rampant and get back to reporting news and not opinions.
Best regards,
Pat
I wrote:
Please Cut the CBC.
Why do we have to pay for this socialist drivel? Why do we fund this anti-Canadian organization? Please strip the CBC of all public funds.
I know your government has made record investments in the CBC, more than any other party in the history of Canada, and that your government has increased CBC funding in every budget.
That is why I am thrilled to learn that your spending plan for the coming year includes a reduction in CBC funding.
The CBC is one of the few institutions that works to destroy our democracy and our identity as Canadians. I am writing to urge you to decrease funding for the CBC from its current level of $33 per Canadian per year to no more than $4 in your March 22nd budget.
Please get back to me.
Sent my response:
There may once have been a time when a publicly funded broadcaster was needed in Canada. But those times have long since passed. With the multitude of channels available today, the CBC in its present form can no longer be justified.
The CBC repeatedly demonstrates its inability to present news and even programming in an unbiased way. It presents everything from an anti-western, anti-capitalist left wing socialist viewpoint. Canadians are turning off the CBC because they are sick of this crap. We can get news and information from numerous other sources which are more reliable and far less biased.
Like many other Canadians I am tired of my tax dollars going to this left wing propaganda machine. I have always thought, you can make me pay for it but you can’t make me watch it.
It is time to cut all funding. Let the CBC sink or swim in the real marketplace.
CBC subsidy- $900,000,000
247 (high-end)MRI/SUITES $900,000,000
My choice would be shut CBC’s doors… ASAP
The CBC has three main heroes – Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas and John Lennon. All three are dead. Let the CBC die too.
That’s a really good one, aDogNamedKyoto – well done.
I am going to send off the following letter shortly.
Dear Mr Harper
I am on a mission to free up as many spaces on my satellite receiver as possible and would deeply appreciate your cooperation. I ask that you and the cabinet start proceedings as soon as humanly/bureaucratically possible to defund the CBC, no starve these bastards out of existence. I am not talking humanely, rather, get it done! Now! SUN TV, I understand is going to commence broadcasting on or about the 18th of April (much too late alas,) and I want to have a bunch of spaces available to accommodate the aforementioned SUN TV in the middle of the playing field so to speak rather than squirreled away at some extreme location with the Playboy channel or the Spongebob Squarepants channel or something like that. Know what I mean??
I wish to be able to view this ‘fresh start in communications’ in my fair country with EASE.
Your early attention to this urgent matter is much appreciated.
PS. I do hope that Jack’s new hip rusts out! Immediately!
Kind regards
CRB
If I’m not mistaken, the organization is called Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, not Friends of the CBC (although the latter is probably much more accurate). It manages to be on the anti-freedom side of almost any broadcasting issue.
Just sent mine off and this is what I wrote:
I quit watching the CBC over a year ago, therfore my tax dollars supporting this media is not in my best interest. This media has been losing its’ audience for a very long time and I believe it has become a money sucking sponge and does little for the betterment of our country. I wish it to be privatized or better still removed from view.
I am hoping the least you will do is cut the funding down to the size of viewership, or better still cut the funding completely.
Thankyou for your attention
If that bloody-handed murderer, Uncle Joe, was still alive I believe he would be too busy laughing at the results the KGB achieved with their disinformation campaign amongst Trudeau, his liberal party, Canadian “elites” and their official mouthpiece, the CBC.
Time for all these old commies in Canada to go the way of the Berlin Wall. Please free me, a Canadian taxpayer, from the need to support these parasites. Dump the CBC. Do it now. Do it today.
Communism is dead, socialism is dying, liberalism is sick unto death, and so is the CBC. The only people I know who listen to it are dyed-in-the-wool liberals.
Anybody get a letter like this after sending the Friends of CBC BS off?
We would like to acknowledge receipt and thank you for your correspondence. Please be assured your comments and views are valued as all emails receive proper attention. If required, we will be providing a specific reply to your concern.
If you would like information concerning the work of our team of New Democrat MPs and our latest policies, please visit our website at: http://www.ndp.ca.
Again, thank you for writing.
All the best,
Office of Jack Layton, MP (Toronto-Danforth)
Leader, Canada’s New Democrats
Seriously, Pat? You wrote to the friends of CBC and received a response from the NDP thanking you for your correspondence?
I get the feeling you’re not joking…
Quite a while ago I received an unsolicited snail mail on a different subject that looked just like the one Pat posted above. I sent a reply asking to be taken off his mailing list, since he is not my MP and I felt that it was an abuse of his free mailing privilege. Possibly Pat received one like that as well and is using it as a template.
Fortunately this time you can delete their template and insert your own – however that might change shortly!
But it is really important to copy your response to Harper because we all know that the Friends will not reference anything we sent to them.
Funny how you blame the CBC, CRTC ect. and conveniently forget who’s in power ie the conservatives. They have the opportunity to change things but wont. In fact its not even part of their agenda to do so, never was. Why would you think otherwise, are you stupid or something.I understand they have a minority government, but at at least they can try. In the past having a majority nothing was done then either.Deficits ballooned under the conservatives in record numbers, but somehow thats the other guys fault. I’m not saying vote liberal they are just as bad, but if you vote for any of these clowns, you’re only to blame, not the CBC
I received the same response from Jack Layton and the “Friends” as Patsplace. Appropriately, I found them in my junk mail.
Peter, learn some history. Trudeau ballooned our deficit to more than $400 billion and Mulroney later maintained it.
The CBC will be cut piece by piece. Don’t fret; the CBC is little-watched and wil slowly be sold off.
Dear Prime Minister,
On the CBC situation:
Here`s a compromise the opposition and even the CBC would have a hard time arguing with:
Total CBC budget is currently around 1.5 Billion. Immediately cut 500 million. Provide the CBC with 500 million and SUN news the other 500 million, both for one year only.
Although this deal would only be good if the CRTC provides SUN news with the same level playing field as the CBC currently enjoys: An equal spot on the regular channels provided by cable and satellite distributors.
Then, just like nature, let both work on their own survival, unassisted by tax dollars.
Terry Tory
max at March 9, 2011 10:14 PM
You’re dead right on that, Max. Couldn’t help but think that no matter what changes I made to their stock letter, maybe thier version would be the only one that got through.
Far better that somebody starts a “No Friend of CBC” site.
Far better that somebody starts a “No Friend of CBC” site.
Jamie MacMaster
Send your letter to the PM directly, the email address link is above in the title…I did not use friends of CBC for the same reason: I don’t trust them.
Sending it directly to the PMO is as effective as petitions from other sources.
Here’s a quote I sent to my MP last week:
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson
I forget where I found it, but it shows it’s not a new problem.
Friends of the BBC.
H/T PET Cemetery and AlMoh Gaddafi and Liberal Iggy’s Liberal Canadian leader Bob Rae*.
“repeatedly beat members of a BBC news team.”
“claims the Libyan leader’s security forces detained and repeatedly beat members of a BBC news team.”
…-
“Libya: Foreign Office threatens ‘day of reckoning’ for Gaddafi regime after BBC team beaten”
“Britain is pressing for an EU emergency summit declaration calling for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to step down after claims the Libyan leader’s security forces detained and repeatedly beat members of a BBC news team.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8372585/Libya-Foreign-Office-threatens-day-of-reckoning-for-Gaddafi-regime-after-BBC-team-beaten.html
…-
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2011/02/24/17396346.html
*Liberal Rae:
“Bob Rae blasts Harper ‘jihadis'”
I used the “Friends” web site to urge the PM to de-fund the CBC. I then wrote an e-mail to Ian Morrison thanking him for the opportunity.
“Peter, learn some history. Trudeau ballooned our deficit to more than $400 billion and Mulroney later maintained it.The CBC will be cut piece by piece. Don’t fret; the CBC is little-watched and wil slowly be sold off.”
May 26, 2009
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced the national deficit to be around $50 billion. His announcement follows the January budget predicting a smaller deficit.The deficit’s increase came as no surprise as the Conservatives predicted it as early as January budget. January’s budget predicted a deficit of $64 billion over the next five years. That prediction has been revised upwards to approximately $80 billion.
My point is not who is pissing this county down the drian faster, but that it’s happening by all the parties wake up. As for the CBC why do you think it will be sold off, Mulroony had the opportunity to do so, but he didn’t do it. What it all boils down to is this,“all 3 main parties are the same.” Its kind of like the old style soviet union, you had 3 parties you could vote for, all with different plans, but they were all communist.
Peter: Agreed, but Liberals/NDP planned to make our budget deficits & debt much larger. I agree that both debt and the CBC are bad bad bad. The CBC’s funding has slowly been cut for years; The present government will hopefully do the same. Canadians won’t care — we can watch hockey on another station.
We need a country and western song: “If you’re a friend of the CBC, you ain’t no friend of mine”. Any takers? Where’s Stompin’ Tom when you need him?
CBC, Canada Post slammed over access to information
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/10/cbc-canada-post-slammed-over-access-to-information/
“Peter: Agreed, but Liberals/NDP planned to make our budget deficits & debt much larger.”
You need to understand that our fiat monetary system is to blame, not the deficit. Reagan spent huge amounts of money on defense starwars ect.
And now the whole world is paying the price.(by the way I loved the guy)anyway..
Think of it this way, a robber comes up to you and says, give me your money. A liberal says Ill just put it on visa, when I die I wont have to pay. A tea party guy says I just wont eat for a month, pay him off he wont come back. In truth what needs to happen, is the cops need to be called in and the guy arrested and thrown in jail. The system and laws change corrupt judges gone. Police get better guns with the ok to shoot the robbers dead.
I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but you cant look at it like the soviets did. Ill vote for communist party A, because they look better then communist party B.They had no other options, we do. Fringe parties or even not vote is an option.A government will have a hard time running things with .000001 percent of the vote.
Fiat money? Isn’t that like Canadian Tire money, only fancier and printed in Italian?
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”- Thomas Jefferson
That’s why we took our (8) children and left for freer pastures and more sun : )