wellandboy

And your source for this statement is.......?

"Out of the control of the people". I fail to see the connection between the bureaucrats of the CBC with no accountability and me or you for that matter. Exactly, what control do we as citizens have in determining what the CBC broadcasts. They see the same numbers as the private broadcasters as a measure of performance, yet do little or nothing to improve or change. Your usage of " ultra right" or "neocon" or whatever flavour of the day doesn't promote any debate on the CBC, just the same old trick of categorizing opposing views with extreme labels. In my posts, I have never stated the the CBC should be abolished, just better, just more accountable.

I watch more PBS and TVO than CBC, but in pure news I move between CTV and CBC and Global in a personal attempt to get through the clutter. Sadly, there is more clutter from the CBC when balanced out with The Globe, National Post and my local paper (I subscribe) and the other TV stations.

We have statistically 10 % the population of the US. It isn't that alternative funding is impractical but just inconvenient and/or frightening for an organization that doesn't feel the need to be accountable. You've cited 4 one hour shows, which I have no particular difficulty with. By my calculation that accounts for less that 3 % of CBC's TV's total weekly broadcast on one CBC venue. When you combine CBC and Newsworld, that's hardly a justification.

Basil whined on Canada AM this morning that this was done without talking to him first nor giving him an opportunity to defend himself. Sucks to be you, Buzz.

I know, I keep missing that one. This concept of Responsible Government keeps eluding me.

Throw in the resolution of the softwood lumber dispute and a dose of further Liberal waste/scandal for good measure.

She's been a regular on TVO for quite a while. I saw her last week on Hardball with Chris Matthews talking about the cartoon crisis. The ever smart and fiesty Irshad, took old Chris quite by surprise with her comments. Domestic leader no, UN material definitely.

It's funny how when we talk about Canadian entities like the CBC, it's defenders immediately juxtapose George Bush and American realities on a uniquely Canadian situation. From the PBS website, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives $300,000.000.00 from the American government, which translates into about 15% of it's total funding. The balance comes from corporate donations, huge endowments and from viewers like me. The CBC receives upwards to $1 billion from the Canadian government plus money received as advertising revenue. Big difference in the way funding works and bigger difference in the delivery of programming. PBS offers documentaries and news programs that provide alternatives to the mainstream outlets. On the other hand many programs have a flavour that cater to the viewership because if they didn't they wouldn't receive their donations from the public. I've said here before, that the CBC receives it's government stipend regardless of the product it delivers. The CBC operates with no accountability to it's viewership and listenership. How about this. Using the accepted scale that the Canadian market is 10% of the US, we cut CBC's government contribution to $30,000,000.00, solicit contributions from corporations, endowments and give me the choice to make a financial contribution to support programming. As Peter Mansbridge and Julie Van deusen are asking for my after tax dollars, they can convince me why they are deserving and why they are the paragons of Canadian unity, so many are willing to claim.

I was hoping to give you the story of the Chretien and his homeless friend from a news source but I couldn't find one. In any case Chretien began relating tales of regularly chatting with a homeless friend (1996?), with whom he had spent time on the streets talking about homelessness and the economy. It all sounded like a nice story until some reporters discovered that it was not true and there was no homeless friend. Later on in the House opposition MP's would make references to Chretien's imaginary homeless friend when asking him questions. References to Homeless friend in Parliament Is this like the character Jimmy Stewart played, Elwood P. Dowd in the movie Harvey? I vaguely remember this about Chretien story, but then again not surprising.

Constructive criticism of the CBC is necessary and helpful. However, most of the CBC opponents on this board are not interested in providing constructive criticism: they simply what to see the broadcaster terminated immediately. Actually, I believe that would be the final outcome no matter what steps were taken to improve the quality of programming. The mindless acceptance of the status quo boggles my mind. I would like to think the most ardent CBC-ite could acknowledge the Corp. either needs an extreme makeover or if all else fails quietly euthanized.

Actually, that's not true in South Western Ontario with the highest population concentrations in the country. When CBC radio broadcast on AM 740, there was very good coverage. Since converting to FM for Radio 1, reception is sporadic in most of Kitchener-Waterloo; half of Niagara Region, Wellington County, Haldimand, Brant, Oxford and Norfolk counties. North west of Toronto in parts of Peel, Dufferin and beyond suffer a similar lack of reception (perhaps literally and figuratively). The other problem is Radio 1 has become so Toronto-centric, it is largely irrelevent in these communities. CBC television and radio have become servants to the major cities simply because their staff and management are big city urbanites. The days of CBC being "an effective vehicle for binding us together" are long gone. When you combine this with it's poor performance in ratings, it raises serious questions as to it's validity as a national broadcaster funded with a $800,000,000 plus government stipend. I am frankly surprised at the stalwart defence of CBC by so many individuals on this board. It is our right and to question and demand more of CBC.

Here's an interesting piece by journalist Anthony Westell on the Emerson defection. He raises some valid points about the independence of MP's. As we move forward on sorting out the so-called questionable ethics of this event, it's important to take a broad view of all the implications of floor crossing.

The Liberals have been "hoisted on their own petard" .

I suggest Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Mimas, I'm curious. Are you outraged because you voted for the Conservative Party of Canada, therefore feeling personally betrayed or are you a supporter of another party and using this as an excuse to bash Harper? There is an important distinction. Could you elaborate please?

I agree that the best way to disentangle the religious from the civil aspects is to get government out of the marriage business and open up the "benefits" of civil marriage to anybody who wants them. I concur, this whole messy business would and could have been avoided had the Liberals taken that approach. I could care less how the Government defines my man/ woman partnership. My concern is the tax, property implications. The relationship I have with my wife is by choice a sacrament, between us and God, nobody else. Far be it from me to make judgements on the relationship between consenting adults.

Dalton will be back, Hampton for the NDP and John Tory for the PC's.

Moral indignation from a proud Liberal???

Man, you're right about the Stones. It's not like Motown hasn't created a whole genre in popular music. Shudda been Sly and the Family Stone and Rare Earth at 1/2 time. Oops, showing my age.

I have to agree with Shoop on this. Harper has to govern first and foremost and if this makes it workable, so be it. Were it not for the Liberal's running around the country spreading fear instead of policy, the Conservatives should and would have received a stronger mandate.

Poorest reffing I've ever seen in any NFL game let alone a Super Bowl. I think the bad calls did have an influence in the game's outcome. Not being a Steelers fan or Seahawk fan, I have no axe to grind, but as a football fan, it's hugely disappointing to see the officials get all the attention.

Fellowtraveler: If you dont like the canadian made programing on the CBC thats fine, but dont try and take it away from the people that do. The problem with isn't with Canadian made programming on CBC per se, it's just the lack of accountability with what it produces. The CBC is not influenced by the marketplace the same way private broadcasters must do in order to survive. It still gets its government stipend no matter what. A smaller, better broadcaster would serve Canadians better, not the big bloated bureaucracy it has become. There is value to some od CBC's programming, but come on, a lot of it , is really bad.

I believe you are right, given the field that remains. Here's some triva did you know Ignatieff and Bob Rae were university roomates?

In the City of Welland population 48,000, the local paper held a similar bias for the incumbant Liberal MP, both editorially and it's selection of Letters to the Editor. Happy, No. When I cancelled my subscription I felt much better.