Now is the time to make our voices heard.

It’s about defending our work, supporting our colleagues, and raising our voices to make CBC strong again.

This Friday, May 23 from 1 p.m.- 1:30 p.m. at Simcoe Park (east side of the CBC building), the Canadian Media Guild is holding a rally.

We’ll have speakers from across the country talking about how the cuts are affecting different locations. Here in Toronto, 200 positions were eliminated.

Co-workers from Sydney, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Windsor, and Yellowknife will also be at the rally to share with us firsthand what the impact of the cuts has been for them.

Toronto location President Naomi Robinson will speak to the cuts here in Toronto.

For years now, CBC has faced funding cut after funding cut and we – its employees – have struggled to provide quality programs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. But these latest cuts – $130 million — have ripped into the heart of the national public broadcaster.

The Canadian Media Guild, which represents 4,000 workers at CBC/Radio-Canada, calls on CBC Management and the Board of directors to tell Canadians about the real impact of the government’s ongoing cuts to CBC’s funding.

CMG also calls on the federal government to reverse its Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP) cuts. Instead, CBC needs ongoing, stable funding so it can deliver the radio, television and online services citizens expect and deserve.

So please join your colleagues.

Take your meal break, or time another break, to come down to Simcoe Park at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Friday.

As Hubert Lacroix said earlier this month “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I will never gag someone or prevent a CBC/ Radio-Canada employee from having an opinion, whether it conforms to or is different from mine.”

This is an opportunity for us to band together and speak up about what these cuts – and past cuts – have done. This is a call for stable funding for CBC. We’re stronger together, defending our work, supporting each other.

Your CMG Executive at CBC Toronto