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LETTER: Cutting of Voyage North will have profound effect

In 2009 the CBC and local CBC Thunder Bay were facing significant job and service underfunding. There was a substantial community and regional outcry about this.

In 2009 the CBC and local CBC Thunder Bay were facing significant job and service underfunding. There was a substantial community and regional outcry about this. As a result of the support from municipalities, including from the City of Thunder Bay and the broader community most of the jobs and service cuts were prevented.

CBC Thunder Bay is once again is under attack and facing serious funding issues and severe cuts. We have to mobilized and stop the cuts again.

In a show of leadership Thunder Bay City Council at lst Monday’s meeting endorsed a resolution unanimously which calls on the federal government to increase funding for the public broadcaster.

The CBC is part of the Canadian identity, it makes up part of our collective DNA.

The cutting of this service will have a profound effect for the Northwest. CBC Thunder Bay will now have a difficult time fulfilling its mandate to represent the community and the region. Afternoon programming (with only the news coming from Thunder Bay) will now be completely managed by Sudbury.

The elimination of the afternoon show (Voyage North) is totally unacceptable. It will have a harmful and damaging effect on the Arts and Culture community in Thunder Bay and our region. Local and regional musicians, shows, and other arts and culture events will no longer have a Northwestern Ontario stage.

This change will result in not getting timely local emergency information to air. Instead of walking down the hall, staff will now have to call Sudbury. This is particularly important in the Northwest with major road closures, school closures, a major disaster, and dangerous weather.

Each part of this province has its own character. With these cuts the broadcast region, for the afternoon will now be the Manitoba Boundary to the Quebec boundary, from Hudson and James Bay in the North to Fort Frances in the South and over to Parry Sound – the size of several of Europe's largest countries!

I am pleased my colleagues recognize the importance of Arts and Culture as well as the release of timely emergency information for Northwestern Ontario.  The entire community must now mobilize, stand up and tell the federal government to stop the cuts to CBC Thunder Bay.

Andrew Foulds,
Councillor, Current River
NDP candidate, Thunder Bay-Superior North

 





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