This just in! Responses from all four candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills!

Just as I was beginning to lose hope of ever receiving an answer to my question, I received my copy of the Kanata Kourier-Standard, a community newspaper serving the community of Kanata, this afternoon. I had also sent the same question to the Kourier-Standard on Sept. 24 since the newspaper was soliciting questions from Kanata residents, to be submitted and answered by the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills. And, wondrous to behold, my question had been submitted to the candidates and the candidates responded!

The question as printed by the Kanata Kourier-Standard, read as follows:

"There has been considerable controversy in recent months concerning the recent programming changes on CBC Radio 2. Could you please tell the voters of Carleton-Mississippi Mills what you intend to do, if elected, to ensure that CBC management is made more responsive to the wishes of it's audience, the Canadian taxpayer."

The responses were as follows. First, from the incumbent, Mr. Gordon O'Connor, of the Conservative Party:

"The government finances the CBC each year, but we don't tell the CBC what to broadcast. They are bound by CRTC rules and we will not interfere with what they broadcast."

Well, this was the kind of answer I expected from Mr. O'Connor. Short, succinct, rather arrogant, and obviously neither he nor his staff has made any attempt to understand the issue or why Canadians are so angry at the CBC. I would expect Mr. O'Connor to be defeated in the next election, were it not for the strong support he receives from the rural residents of this riding. Mr. O'Connor gets an F, a failing grade, for this response.

From Mr. Jake Cole, of the Green Party:

"Our principle is grassroots democracy; Canadians should have a say in what affects them. Any changes should reflect what people want."

This is considerably better than Mr. O'Connor's response, although Mr. Cole does not state what he would do. However, I give Mr. Cole a B+ for this response, for having the right attitude. It is not surprising that the Greens have come from nearly nowhere to become a serious contender in some ridings.

From Mr. Paul Arbour, of the NDP:

"Our government has acted in the past through an order council to change the practises of Canada Post because they weren't serving the Canadian public and I am prepared to move an order in council, if necessary, so that the CBC can continue to serve Canadians."

Much better. I don't know if what Mr. Arbour says is correct; i.e. an order in council can be used to change the CBC, but I give Mr. Arbour full marks for having the right attitude and being prepared to act. Mr. Arbour receives an A-.

And finally, from Mr. Justin MacKinnon of the Liberal Party:

"The CBC is a Canadian institution and they have to respond to the needs of the country. You have to give them some flexibility, but if they are ignoring the wishes of Canadians, I would stand up and address that."

Well done, Mr. MacKinnon. You get full marks for having the right attitude, although your response is lacking specificity. Consequently, Mr. MacKinnon also receives an A-.

I note that three of the candidates did not feel it necessary to answer my e-mail as well, and were only moved to answer the question since it has been posed to them by the Kanata Kourier-Standard. However, I realize that they are all busy and forgive them for this lapse. Mr. Arbour gets full marks for courtesy, having answered my question in an e-mail that he sent to me, with substantially the same response as appeared in the newspaper.

How would I have answered this question? This is my response, assuming that I had sent the answer directly to the sender:

Dear Mr. Wooten,

Thank you for your e-mail. It is always a pleasure to receive e-mails from the voters in Carleton-Mississippi Mills and to be able to address the issues that are of concern to the constituents of Carleton-Mississippi Mills.

I agree with you that the CBC has acted in a precipitous manner in instituting the programming changes on CBC Radio 2. While they have not violated the letter of the Broadcasting Act, 1991, or their license as granted by the CRTC, I believe they have certainly ignored the CBC Radio 2 audience in implementing these changes and have therefore violated the spirit of the Act and their license. At this moment, however, the programming changes have been implemented and it would be disruptive to reverse them.

If elected, therefore, I would work to implement the following actions:

• The CBC would be required to report on the success (or lack thereof) of their initiative by displaying audience share statistics, according to time slot, comparing audience share for programs available before the changes and after the changes on the CBC web site for all to view. The audience share statistics that are presented would be those available from the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, an independent firm. This market share data will also be included, by time slot, in the Corporations annual report.



• The CBC would be required to establish a Listener's Council, one each for CBC Radio 1 and CBC Radio 2, to participate in the strategic decisions of the Corporation. The Listener's Council would be made up of volunteers from the CBC audience, cultural organizations and performers. The Council members would be remunerated for expenses only, as this is a volunteer position. Volunteers would be appointed from a list of applicants by the Minister of Heritage's office.



• The CBC would be required to display all comments from CBC listeners, screened only to remove those comments that include profanity, racial slurs or irrelevant comments, on the CBC web site for each program.



• The CBC would be required to apply for funding each fiscal year, using a zero-based budgeting approach.
  

I believe these actions, if implemented, would result in a CBC that is more responsive to Canadians and an institution that we, as taxpayers, could once again be proud of.

The CBC would be given a suitable period - I suggest a year - to show that the programming changes have in fact revitalized CBC Radio 2 and have resulted in a larger, sustainable audience. If the market share data does not show this, then the CBC would be directed by the Minister of Heritage to review the programming to ensure that the interests of Canadians are better met. This could, of course, also include a return to the programming that had previously existed on CBC Radio 2.

I thank you for your support and look forward to serving as your Member of Parliament in the next House.

Sincerely,

etc., etc.

Now, that wasn't difficult at all, was it? I whipped that off in - let's see - under ten minutes? Why couldn't all of the candidates have done the same?

Oh well, perhaps I'll run in the next election - which I predict will be in another two years time.

7 Days Later: Only the NDP has responded

Seven days have passed since I sent my original question to the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi, Mr. Gordon O'Connor (Conservative), Mr. Justin MacKinnon (Liberal), Mr. Paul Arbour (NDP) and Mr. Jake Cole (Green). Only Mr. Arbour replied to my question, for which I thank Mr. Arbour.

I'll continue the conversation between Bob and Ted from the other day:

"So, Ted, how's the response to that Wooten guy coming?"

"Still working on it, Bob."

"There's only one work day left before the election, Ted. Think you'll get it finished before the weekend?"

"Yeah, no problem. But it's a bit more involved that I thought at first."

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"Well, I've been digging into the history behind the CBC programming changes a bit. Seems this has been going on longer than we thought. It seems the first programming changes went back all the way to the summer of 2006. The CBC first replaced the Friday evening time slot of "In Performance", which had been all classical music before then, with a version of the current "Canada Live". At first, everyone thought this was just a summertime replacement for "In Performance" on Friday evenings - you know, to give the host, Eric Friesen, a bit of a break. But come September, "In Performance" did not come back to the Friday evening time slot and "Canada Live" was there permanently."

"Didn't the CBC announce this programming change?"

"Not as far as I can tell. It seems they tried to slip it in, under the radar so to speak, hoping no one would notice."

"So it was a bit of a trial balloon. To see if any one complained."

"Yeah, it seems so. Probably people noticed, of course, but maybe very few complained. After all, it was just one evening out of five. Perhaps they thought it was only for the summer at first and then, when they realized it wasn't, just decided to live with it."

"So what happened next?"

"Well, then, things went on as before. Then, in March 2007, CBC went whole hog and replaced 'Music for a while' with a jazz program, 'Tonic', and the remaining four evenings of 'In Performance' with 'Canada Live'. They also cut the evening newscast, 'The World at Six', from thirty minutes to five minutes and cut the 'Arts Report' out of the morning broadcast."

"Did the CBC announce these changes beforehand?"

"They did, sort of. A few weeks before the changes the announcers of the programs that were being cut had to announce that they wouldn't be there after March 19 and that there would be new programs."

"That's a bit cruel for the program hosts, isn't it? Having to announce your own cancellation?"

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"And no big press releases? No announcements on the CBC web site? No big hoop-lah to announce a major shift in strategy?"

"Nope, nothing, nada, nicht, zip, zero. Tried to fly it in under the radar."

"You've got to admit they're smart. Learned a thing or two from the government. Release bad news on a Friday afternoon, before a long weekend, in the hope that no one notices it or that it gets minimal coverage from the press. Better than the stealth bomber for flying in under the radar."

"Yeah, but in this case people did notice. Petitions were started, a few newspaper articles got written, this Wooten guy started his blog. But once again, the CBC got away with it."

"Then this Sept. 2 thing happened?"

"No, this time the CBC announced their changes well in advance, early in 2008. They also announced that the CBC Radio Orchestra was being disbanded. That's when the shit really hit the fan."

"How so?"

"Well, this time people really sat up and took notice. The evening schedule for classical music had already been decimated, but now classical music was being canceled during the daytime schedule. Classical music was going to be relegated to the 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM ghetto. The morning and evening time slots were given over to more contemporary music - supposedly, to showcase Canadian artists that were not being heard elsewhere."

"Interesting. Was there any evidence that Canadians actually wanted to hear 'Canadian artists that were not being heard elsewhere'?"

"CBC points to an 'Arts and Culture' survey that they say they did that supports these changes, but refuse to release it."

"Interesting. Sounds like the technique of the 'big lie'. It reminds me of the prelude to the second World War - no one objected when Herr Hitler annexed Austria - "it's only Austria, and after all, they're both German-speaking countries" government leaders in Europe said. And when Germany invaded the Czechs, everyone thought that Herr Hitler would be satisfied. But when Germany invaded Poland, then, people took notice. But by then it was too late."

"That's a little extreme, isn't it Bob? Comparing the CBC to the Nazis?"

"I'm not comparing the CBC to the Nazis, not at all. There's no comparison at all, of course. It's just the technique seems similar - take a small bite, see if any one notices, take another bite, see how much you can get away with, then take it all."

"Well, I agree, as an exercise in change management it was either an extremely poorly executed example of how to implement change in a large organization. Or else is was extremely devious, and extremely well done."

"So which was it?"

"The former, I think. You remember, I worked as a consultant in change management before taking this job."

"Was that your uncle, the candidate's company?"

"No, that was my other uncle, on my mother's side."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

"Well, getting back to the CBC. People did take notice, and they did object. There was a national day of protest on April 11. CBC listeners protested in most of the major cities in Canada - there's a Facebook group devoted to the protest. Can you imagine! Raging grannies on the streets of Canadian cities! But, in fact, it wasn't just grannies out protesting. It was students, the middle-aged, moms and dads with their kids, as well as the older folks, as you might expect."

"Come to think of it, I remember being on the Sparks Street mall last winter and seeing a crowd protesting outside the CBC building. But it was raining hard at the time - a combination of rain and sleet - so I didn't stick around."

"Remarkable, isn't it, that Canadians would feel so strongly about anything that they would get out into the streets and protest? Well, that wasn't the last of it. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage got involved and held a special hearing on the CBC changes."

"No kidding? I must've missed that one. What happened?"

"As you might expect, there was a fair amount of blustering questions by the MPs, evasive, self-important, self-congratulatory answers from CBC management, a few non-sequiturs from some of the other MPs, and finally the whole thing just petered out. I saw the broadcast on the web. That Wooten guy also did a synopsis of the hearing, but of course his view is a bit biased."

"So what's the situation now?"

"It seems both sides have retreated into their corners. The listeners have done all they could but no one has taken up their cause. The CBC has bulldozed ahead with their master plan to change the face of public broadcasting in Canada."

"And is it working?"

"That's just the thing! Is it working? How do we know? The only way we could tell if it's working or not is by looking at audience market share, both before and after the programming changes. And market share data isn't available to you or me - it's only available to the broadcasters themselves, such as CBC."

"Sweet. Makes it easier to maintain the 'big lie'. You can claim your strategy is successful, because only you have access to the data to show that it is, or is not. And your competitors aren't going to challenge you - they don't necessarily care to make it known that the CBC's strategy isn't successful. After all, it's in their best interests to see CBC's audience share decline."

"I think you're the one that's been reading too many thrillers now, Bob."

"Maybe. Anyway, I'm impressed, Ted. You've been doing your homework."

"Well, you know, you can only get so far on nepotism alone."

"Right you are Ted."

6 Days Later: Conservatives, Liberals and Greens still silent in Carleton-Mississippi Mills

Six work days have elapsed (Oct. 1 - 3, Oct. 6-8) since I sent my question to the candidates in the riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills to ask the candidates to explain their policy on the recent programming changes on CBC Radio Two and, more importantly, how they would reign in a Crown Corporation that no longer listens to the wishes of it's owners, the Canadian taxpayer.

Only Mr. Paul Arbour, the NDP candidate in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, has responded so far. I'll keep readers of this blog posted on responses that I receive - but with only two days left before the election (today, Thursday Oct. 9, and tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 10) I'm not optimistic that there will be any responses. (I'm assuming that the candidates and their staff will take the weekend off for Thanksgiving. If they're not planning to, they should.)

Bob and Ted were out distributing leaflets door-to-door yesterday, but will continue their conversation later today.

2 Days Later: Still no responses from the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills

It's now been two days since I sent my question asking the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills (the Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Jake Cole, Justin MacKinnon and Paul Arbour) their policy on making CBC Management more responsive to the wishes of Canadians, and still no reply.

Some may consider this a small, picayune issue - but how many other issues are there that (a) affect your lives directly and (b) the members of Parliament and government of the day can actually do something about?

Sure, health care and the lack of doctors is an issue - but will this issue be fixed overnight? No, it is the result of 30 years of neglect of health care that has led to the present crisis.

The price of gas? Candidates may posture, make promises, bluster in aggrieved tones, but again, there is no simple solution and, the fact is, the price of gas is determined by global market forces and can not be controlled by the government of the day.

The war in Afghanistan? Once again, there's no easy solution. Of course, promises can be made to end our involvement - I believe the latest date is 2011 - but the truth of the matter is that Canada's role in NATO and our relationship with the U.S. will determine our policy here.

Food prices? Again, prices fluctuate due to global demand, the cost of production, the impact of market speculators, the weather - once again, for the most part factors that can not be controlled by the government.

Making the CBC more responsive to the wishes of its shareholders, the taxpayers of Canada? Restoring funding to the CBC Radio Orchestra? Reversing the cuts to the Arts programs that have recently been instituted by the Conservative government? Now, these are things that can easily be done with a telephone call and several meetings between the Minister of Heritage and CBC management.

Is this still such a small issue that it can be ignored? Will voters care? Or will voters rise up in righteous wrath and vote for a candidate and party that will actully reflect their wishes?

1 Day Later: No responses from the candidates in Carleton-Mississippi Mills

Nine seconds after sending my e-mail question to the Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Member of Parliament for Carleton-Mississippi Mills, I received this reply from Mr. O'Connor's constituency manager, Mr. John Aris:

"On behalf of Gordon O'Connor, thank you for your e-mail message. Mr. O'Connor always responds to correspondence from constituents first. In order to prioritize inquiries, we ask those wishing to receive replies to provide their complete name and mailing address.

If you have not done so in your original e-mail, please send us a quick note indicating this information.

Thank you again for contacting Gordon O'Connor, your Member of Parliament for Carleton-Mississippi Mills. We value your opinion, and will make note of your comments."

So, I dutifully sent a reply e-mail to Mr. O'Connor's office with my mailing address within the next 30 minutes.

So far I have not received any replies from Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Cole, Mr. MacKinnon or Mr. Arbour.

Oh, well, I know they're busy with only 12 days left before the election. Although this is an important issue to many Canadians, as it is a fundamental question that we should consider in a democracy - how do you ensure that proper oversight and controls are put in place on a Crown Corporation which is spending your tax dollars and which should be reflecting your wishes as a taxpayer?

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!