HELP STOP THE CBC SELLOFF!

[Oscar]

HELP STOP THE CBC SELLOFF!

( NOTE: See Background below . . . .)

From: Ian Morrison – FRIENDS
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 9:05 AM
Subject: Stop the CBC selloff

The foundations of public broadcasting in Canada are under attack by the people at the very top of the CBC, all of them Stephen Harper appointees and most Conservative donors.

For supporters of the CBC, the number one priority must be to reform the CBC’s Board to rid it of this treacherous bunch. I am writing to ask you to invest in this urgent project.

Piece by piece, Harper’s 'fifth column' at the CBC, its President and Board of Directors, are dismantling our national public broadcaster.

Just last week, they put Radio-Canada’s Montreal headquarters on the market. This development received scant attention in the English media so I have arranged for a translation of this story in La Presse.

They are tearing down public broadcasting’s properties across our great country and the playbook of this destructive approach is not hard to find: the Senate.

In the dying days of the last Parliament, a Committee of Senators stacked with Harper Conservatives published a report on the CBC.

Among its 21 recommendations was this gem:

“CBC/Radio-Canada divest itself of its current real estate holdings and lease facilities and office space”.

In other words, burning the furniture to heat the house!

Harper’s appointed Board and President have been pursuing this agenda for some time. The CBC has already sold nine buildings in cities such as Halifax and Windsor.

As if the turfing of Stephen Harper never happened, CBC facilities in Vancouver, Calgary Regina, Winnipeg, and even the CBC’s Broadcast Centre in Toronto are next on the block, unless we stop them!

Please invest generously in FRIENDS’ campaign to reform the CBC Board.

No public broadcaster in any other democratic country in the western world rents its office space. This is clearly a planned step towards the degradation and eventual dismantling of Canadian public broadcasting. We all know the difference between owning and renting.

In response to media stories on September 23, 2015, the NDP wisely wrote to Lacroix: “Short-term solutions like these do not solve the long term problems faced by CBC/Radio-Canada after 20 years of budget pressure”.

We need your help to raise a 'hue and cry' about this covert campaign and to persuade the Liberal government to put a stop to this death by a thousand cuts and pull CBC out of its death spiral. We are working hard to develop a plan to reform CBC’s Board of Directors and this outrage adds urgency to this work.

We are engaging on many fronts to stop Harper’s acolytes on the CBC Board.

It is entirely possible to replace the CBC’s Board without compromising the essential independence of our national public broadcaster, but it will take an Act of Parliament to accomplish.

The time to act is now.

FRIENDS is consulting with experts on the best way to make this happen.

Please join me in investing is this important work as generously as you can to un-do Harper's hostile CBC legacy.


Thank you!

Ian Morrison
Spokesperson
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting

PS If you would prefer to send your contribution through postal mail, our address is:

FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting
200/238-131 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON, M5S 1R8


PPS Here is a compendium of news stories from the past year that connects the dots and provides a clear picture of the CBC Board’s intentions: [ http://www.friends.ca/cbc-sale-stories ]

FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog for Canadian programming and is not affiliated with any broadcaster or political party.
200/238-131 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1R8, 866-833-1282


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BACKGROUND: Selloff of CBC buildings - media coverage
[ http://www.friends.ca/cbc-sale-stories ]


Feb 20, 2015 - Toronto Star - CBC looks to sell downtown Toronto HQ
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02 ... to-hq.html ]
"A shrinking CBC is looking to sell its outsized downtown flagship headquarters in order to cut costs.”


May 26, 2015 - Globe and Mail - CBC considers selling Vancouver building to free up money for programming
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e24633541/ ]
"The CBC is exploring whether to sell its $57-million downtown Vancouver broadcast centre as part of a national plan to reduce its real-estate holdings."


Sept 22, 2015 - Canadian Media Guild - CBC announces plans to sell off all buildings in midst of election campaign
[ http://www.cmg.ca/en/2015/09/22/cbc-ann ... -campaign/ ]
"CBC announced today at a town hall for staff that it is selling all its property across the country, including major production facilities in Montreal and Toronto"


Sept 23, 2015 - Huffington Post - Every CBC Building A Candidate To Be Sold: Real Estate Boss
[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/09/23 ... 85476.html ]
"CBC's real estate boss says every building is a candidate to be sold as the public broadcaster grapples with massive budget cuts. But Marc Lapierre insists there is no formal plan to sell all of the CBC's buildings, as suggested by the Canadian Media Guild.”


Sept 23, 2015 - Globe and Mail - Media union raises alarm over CBC real estate selloff plans
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e26506165/ ]
"The CBC has sold nine buildings so far in cities such as Halifax and Windsor, Ont., shedding about 400,000 square feet, or 10 per cent, of the corporation’s space."


Jan 04, 2016 - CBC Calgary - CBC Calgary building to go up for sale as preparations made to move west
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/c ... -1.3388945 ]
"CBC employees in Calgary will be moving to a new location after the corporation's board of directors approved the sale of their longtime home at 1724 Westmount Blvd. N.W.”


Feb 19, 2016 - La Presse - La Maison de Radio-Canada officially for sale
[ http://www.friends.ca/news-item/13613 ]
"It’s official: CBC/Radio-Canada has put up a “For Sale” sign in front of its huge Montreal headquarters."