A question for the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills

In my September 10 blog entry I suggested that we all ask the candidates in our ridings what their policy is with respect to the recent programming changes on CBC Radio Two. So, following my own advice, I sent the following e-mail to the candidates in my riding, Carleton-Mississippi Mills:

There has been considerable controversy in recent months concerning the recent programming changes on CBC Radio Two. While this may seem to be a small issue to some, it directly affects the lives of many former CBC Radio Two listeners, including senior citizens and retirees, for whom CBC Radio Two was an integral part of their daily life. Given that:

• Canadian taxpayers are, according to the Broadcasting Act, 1991, the effective owners of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• CBC Radio management has been singularly unresponsive to the protests of CBC Radio Two listeners over the past six months
• the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Heritage are unable (or unwilling) to influence the day-to-day operations of the Crown Corporation

Could you please tell the voters of Carleton-Mississippi Mills what you intend to do, if elected, and what your party would do, if it forms the government, to ensure that CBC Management is made more responsive to the wishes of it's audience, the Canadian taxpayer?

I am sending the same question to all of the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills. I am also posting the question and the fact that I have sent this question to all candidates on my web site, cbcradiotwoandme.blogspot.com.

With your permission, I will also post your reply on this web site.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

I sent this e-mail to the incumbent, Gordon O'Connor (Conservative Party), Jake Cole (Green Party), Justin MacKinnon (Liberal Party) and Paul Arbour (NDP), this afternoon.

There are, of course, other points that could have been made in this e-mail, but I wanted to send a simple, direct question and receive a direct reply.

We'll see now what responses we get!

DIY Protest: 10 things you can do to protest the CBC Radio Two changes

Are you outraged about the changes that have taken place on CBC Radio Two this September? Are you wondering what you, as a shareholder in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, can do to protest these changes? Well then, here are some possible actions to take:

1. Stop listening to CBC Radio Two.

I know that you may have done this already, but if you are still listening to CBC Radio Two, then stop. Listen to Classical 96.3 FM instead, if you are fortunate enough to be within broadcasting range, or Radio-Classique 99.5 FM in Montreal or Couleur FM in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. If you are living in another part of the country where these radio stations are not available, see the list of classical radio stations to the right.

If you can afford the start-up cost and fees associated with satellite radio, consider subscribing to Sirius or XM satellite radio. As a subscriber to Sirius satellite radio for over a year now, I find it very much worth the cost.

You may be asking: Why stop listening to CBC Radio Two? Ms. Julie Nesrallah's new program "Tempo" is still available, and it's still a very good program. Why stop listening, even though it is only between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM? There are two reasons to stop listening. The first reason is simply a matter of principle. Even if no one knows that you have stopped listening, you will have the inner satisfaction of knowing that you no longer support or are in any way associated with the CBC.

The second reason is so that you can truthfully respond, if asked, that you no longer listen to the CBC; for example, if you are lucky enough to be asked by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) during one of their frequent quarterly surveys.

2. Join the CBC Radio Two protest.

See the Stand on Guard for CBC web site. This is the best one-stop-shopping site for all things related to the CBC protest. See also the other sites listed to the right.

3. Join the CBC Radio Two protest on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/).

If you are not already on FaceBook, sign up and join the groups "Save Classical Music at the CBC" and "Save the CBC Radio Orchestra".

4. Write a letter to the Minister of Heritage, the Honourable Josée Verner.

Tell Ms. Verner that although you understand that the CBC is a Crown corporation and therefore the Minister can not become involved in the day-to-day operations of the CBC, remind her that it is the job of the federal government and Parliament to ensure that our tax dollars are being spent responsibly and in a way that reflects our wishes as Canadian taxpayers. Remind Ms. Verner that this whole CBC Radio Two fiasco occurred while the Conservatives were in power, even if in only a minority government, and that Canadian voters will hold the Conservatives responsible for this outrage perpetrated on the loyal CBC Radio Two listeners. See the earlier letter that I sent to Ms. Verner's predecessor, Ms. Oda, for inspiration.

5. During the federal election campaign, ask the candidates in your riding what their position is on ensuring that the government and Minister of Heritage provides proper oversight on the action of Crown Corporations, including the CBC.

See the above. Remind the Conservative candidate that Canadian voters will hold the Conservatives responsible for the changes that have taken place on CBC Radio Two since these changes were implemented during their minority government. Don't let any promises of further tax reductions be used as a consolation for the changes that have taken place on CBC Radio Two. A two cent per litre reduction in the tax on diesel fuel, indeed!

6. Write to the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

See my posts on this topic on May 14 2007 for inspiration.

7.Write a letter to the CBC management team. See the list to the right for the CBC Radio management hierarchy.

See my letters to Mr. Robert Rabinovitch, Ms. Jane Chalmers and Ms. Jennifer McGuire. Sadly, none of these folks are still in a position to reverse the changes that were instituted during their reign, but their successors - who are even more militantly in favour of the programming changes, it seems - may see the light if enough people write to them.

8. Write a letter to the CBC Board of Directors. See also the list to the right.

9. Write a letter to "Contact Us" on the CBC web site.

See my letter to TUWYT. Of course, I never received any response from the folks behind the scenes at TUWYT, but it's worth a try.

10. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

There has been some coverage of the CBC Radio Two changes in national newspapers, but not enough my opinion. See some of the articles that have been published in the list to the right. Let's make this issue more visible!

To summarize, there is a great deal that you, as a shareholder in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian taxpayer and CBC listener can do to protest the changes. The current election is an especially opportune time to make your views known!

Third day listening to the "new 2"

9:45 AM: I leave for Montreal. I tune in to Mr. Tom Allen's new program, "Radio 2 Morning". Among the pieces that I hear before the program ends at 10:00 AM is a cover of Johnny Nash's "I can see clearly now". Is this the much-vaunted Canadian content that CBC management has been trumpeting over the last six months? Covers of hits from the '60s and '70s?

10:00 AM: Ms. Julie Nesrallah's new show, "Tempo" begins, and once again Ms. Nesrallah reaffirms that this show is the gem in the new daily schedule. Although, it occurs to me - why was it necessary to replace "Here's to You" and "Studio Sparks" with a single program, and replace two program hosts with one? Is this a case of thinly-disguised cost cutting - replace two highly paid, veteran hosts with a single neophyte? (No offence is intended to Ms. Nesrallah, whom I already admire - I'm just wondering about the possible economics behind the change in programming.)

approx. 12:00 PM: I lose reception of the CBC Radio Two station in Ottawa, 103.3 FM. Once again, I have forgotten the frequency of the English-language CBC Radio Two station in Montreal and scan the FM frequencies for the station in Montreal. I find Radio-Classique, 99.5 FM in Montreal. Initially, I confuse this with CBC Radio Two, but the presence of commercials (and commentary) in French make me realize this is a commercial radio station. I give up on searching for CBC Radio Two and continue to listen to Radio-Classique for the rest of my trip.

approx. 4:15 PM: I leave for Ottawa, with a detour through Cornwall. I continue to listen to 99.5 FM until I lose reception. By this time it's 6:00 PM and I don't even bother trying to listen to Ms. Katie Malloch's "Tonic". I've listened to it enough times since its initial introduction in March, 2007, to know that it's not for me. I listen to a CD of the soundtrack from the movie "Across the Universe" instead, for the rest of the journey home.

Now, I should mention that the past three days have by no means been usual for me - a Toronto-Waterloo-Toronto drive, followed by a Toronto-Ottawa trip, followed by an Ottawa-Montreal-Cornwall-Ottawa journey is quite out of the ordinary. But it highlights one point - CBC management has been trumpeting the fact that classical music is available 24/7 on the web via streaming audio - but it doesn't do one much good, does it, if you are not tied to your PC/web-enabled PDA/iPhone.

So, once again, I return to the main points that I have been trying to make to the CBC management, members of Parliament, Minister of Heritage and to anyone elso who will listen for the past 18 months: the changes to the CBC Radio Two programming were made without proper consultation of the shareholders of the corporation (i.e. you and me, the taxpayers of Canada), the changes were made without allowing feedback to be solicited and displayed on the CBC Radio web site both prior to and after the changes were implemented and, furthermore, the changes are ill-advised and will drive the once-loyal CBC Radio Two audience away, with no replacement likely.

Will I listen to CBC Radio Two after this week? No, I will not, since I have found alternatives that are much more to my liking - Sirius satellite radio, Classical 96.3 FM in Toronto and now, Radio-Classique 99.5 FM in Montreal.