To advocate in favour of public broadcasting and a strong, well-funded, pan-Canadian public broadcaster during this federal election, CMG is required by law to register with Elections Canada as a “third party.”

Since support of public broadcasting is an issue associated with political parties, under very broad new rules some of CMG’s advocacy in support of public broadcasting may be construed as election advertising.

In light of the drastic funding cuts imposed by the federal government in recent years, CMG is urging all political parties to adopt our 5
proposals in support of a well-funded and independent CBC/Radio-Canada.

“We have sent considerable time lobbying all political parties to support better funding for the CBC,” says Carmel Smyth, national president of the Canadian Media Guild. “As a media union we are non-partisan, and do not support or give money to any political party. But we have a responsibility to let Canadians know how destructive and unnecessary the recent cuts have been, and to encourage CBC supporters to share their belief CBC should be funded to produce original Canadian content in both official languages and local news across the country.”

Political parties and candidates have staked out different positions on the future of CBC/Radio-Canada and, as CMG does in every election, we will be sharing information about these positions with our members.

We also continue to urge the CBC Board and its President and CEO to share with Canadians their sense of what conditions best support a strong and independent CBC/Radio-Canada.

Find out more about the CMG campaign at http://www.cmg.ca/en/champion-public-broadcasting/ .

For more information, get in touch with the Guild (info@cmg.ca) at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.