The Canadian Media Guild is urging CBC-TV to put Moving On back in the schedule for next year. The award-winning weekly documentary program is the only one of its kind in North America, telling the stories of people with disabilities who want to live more independently.

“Moving On has served to raise the bar on broadcasting about issues affecting people living with disabilities in this country,” says Datejie Green, director of equity and human rights for the CMG. “The CBC is cancelling the show and disbanding the production unit at a time when they are also telling us the number of CBC employees with disabilities is declining. This is very discouraging for journalists and other media workers with disabilities.”

People with disabilities often feel isolated, in part because they seldom see or hear people like themselves in the mainstream media. Moving On has tried to reflect the reality of their lives and document the contributions they make to the diversity of Canadian society. The Guild is concerned there appears to be no plan to make sure that the public broadcaster’s coverage of disability issues continues, and goes beyond tokenism.

“This is precisely the kind of programming the CBC should be providing to Canadians,” says Barbara Byers, executive vice president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Until people with disabilities are truly reflected and respected in our media, it will be very difficult for them to be treated fairly in the country’s workplaces and public life.”

The CMG is calling for a detailed plan from the CBC on how the public broadcaster intends to replace the show and the production unit in order to continue to be a broadcast leader and ensure disability issues are covered in a comprehensive way.

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