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Cuts hit home

It was a lousy day for CBC Thunder Bay, says a union official.
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CBC Thunder Bay didn't go untouched in latest round of cuts. The station will lose its afternoon show and two positions. (Jodi Lundmark, tbnewswatch.com)

It was a lousy day for CBC Thunder Bay, says a union official. 

The local office is losing two positions and its longstanding Voyage North afternoon show in the latest round of cuts the public broadcaster announced Thursday that included 657 jobs nationwide over the next two years.

"All of us, we're completely devastated because we lost our voice for the region," said Jolene Banning, local union president for the Canadian Media Guild, of the loss of Voyage North.

The show will be going to Sudbury, said Banning.

"It's going to be hard to reflect the region from Sudbury because Northwestern Ontario and Sudbury, we are two different locations. We do not have the same issues. We do not have the same people," she said.

With the CBC's loss of Hockey Night in Canada and cuts from the federal government, Banning said they weren't surprised the Thunder Bay station took a hit.

"We went unscathed the last round of cuts, so there's always that fear that you know we will be next. We tried to be hopeful," she said.

CBC Thunder Bay employs 13 people; two of the positions are part-time.

Banning didn't yet know when the cuts would take effect.

In addition to the job cuts, the CBC also announced it will no longer pursue rights to professional sports.

The changes will cut $130 million from its 2014-2015 budget.





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