Community Broadcast Centre

Voice - Values - Our country - Radio & TV

Most countries are founded on a tribal reality. Native French people who live in France are held together by a powerful ethnicity. Native Russian feel the same way as do native Italians. Thousands of years of consanguinity, music, literature and history binds the tribe.

But there are few new types of country, like Canada that have only a small tribal base and have become nations because of a set of ideas and values. These new countries have to work very hard to create the belief that all Canadians are Canadians and not just my tribal bit of Canada. If we fail in this supreme national task, we risk the events that we witness in New Orleans. If your media supports the idea of the "other" then anything can happen and there is no future for a nation of differences.

The central mission of a national government in a nation made up of immigrants is to work to ensure that all believe that they are citizens of equal worth who can expect the support of others who look different to them but who also call themselves nationals of that country. How do you do this?

In these immigrant nations, the national values are established by the main norming process of all communities - conversation and story telling. A national set of values is set mainly by a national broadcaster. They tell our national and local stories. They tell us about the world through our eyes. Listen to how a family talk. You will hear what they value by their conversation. The conversation forms the values of the family. So when you travel to a new country, your observation of the local media tells you too what this place values.

So the values of the media are a critical force in the values of a nation or any community. You can lose this glue if you miss this point.

For generations in the US the national news departments acted differently from the rest of the network. They saw themselves as the temple of truth. Americans could rely on CBS, NBC and ABC to make a distinction between news and entertainment and between news and the profits of the network. In the heyday, news was indeed a public service. It does not take a sensitive observer to note that this is no longer the case. Powerful centrifugal forces are now in motion. Why?

News is increasingly trivialized and has become entertainment. Worse, Fox increasingly resembles a tribal network where only a ultra right wing view is tolerated. So the America story becomes the OJ trial or Bill O'Reilly's view of the world. This does not have a trivial effect on the total values of America. The commitment to the state to the citizen is falling as is the commitment of the state to all Americans.

So what has this got to do with the CBC? The CBC is a vital part of the making of Canada as a nation that is all about minorities and that accepts difference as its central norm. By 2017, whites will themselves be a minority in Toronto. In a nation where all need the protection of the state, who will host the conversation that we need to thrive in such an environment?

I worry that our politicians have missed this as has the leadership of the CBC.

If I was the president of CBC, I would work tirelessly to strip out the bureaucracy, but I would also see the strengthening of its role as the voice of our country as my life's work.

I sense that the PMO's office wish that CBC would become more CTV. Mr Harper would prefer Fox. The current leadership certainly want to see CBC cast as a business. If we get Fox, what will Canada be like? Can we survive this type of values?

In a large and diverse country such as Canada, the national government has to pull the right nation building levers or we risk failure. They have to invest in our connective tissue - roads, rails, the air, the internet and the national media are not private goods. They are what makes us a nation. The CBC needs reform but it does not need to be made irrelevant.

Pat Binns Speaks about CBC

Our Islander away, Alan, picked up this statement that I missed from our Premier

CBC, through its radio, television and web programming, is an important part of Island life by helping Islanders tell their stories to other Islanders and to the world. From Canada Now (Compass) and Island Morning to Hockey Night In Canada, Islanders enjoy a host of CBC programs. CBC and its staff are also a valuable part of our community through their ongoing support of charitable efforts such as the Annual Turkey Drive. I call upon all parties involved in this dispute to renew their efforts to reach a timely and satisfactory resolution.

Way to go Pat. Now Alan is a bit sarcastic in his comments but I recall the thrill that I got when my name was read out for the first time at Christmas for having donated a turkey. I had arrived. Laugh all you want Alan, I want my Turkey drive back!

Have Not Provinces

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is concerned that Ontario is becoming a "Have Not Province" With Alberta booming - the pressure will be on and all provinces will be fighting each other and Ottawa. What will this mean for our country?

I think that it is time that the Provinces grew up. Are we not in sight of the end of the idea of have nots being bailed out by richer provinces? This kind of fight is bad for all parties. Worse for the real have nots like PEI. PEI reminds me of a 30 year old child that still depends on his parents for a large allowance to keep him in weed, a car and a place he cannot afford. and for when he blows it again. If we parent our children this way what happens?

They become incapable. They become resentful. They become expert at manipulation. They become losers in every way. They become losers in their spirit as well as their body. History paints an interesting picture.

It is a great irony that Iceland, one of the poorest communities in the world stepped back in the late 19th century from its dependency on Denmark just as PEI took the federal bribe and joined Confederation. Look at the difference. Iceland was worse than subsistence then - it was poverty stricken. Then PEI was arguably one of the wealthiest communities in the world. It also had a population that had all the best attributes of independence, innovation and bloody mindedness. It was a global trader and it was largely self contained as far as core resources. Iceland is all of these things today. Iceland went to war with the UK in the 1960's and won! It has a thriving artistic and even local Icelandic publishing business. Every Icelander I have met has at least one book published. It has exceptionally high literacy rates and amongst the highest standard of living in the world. They had the balls to set up their own Airline. Their business men are seen as modern Vikings who rape and pillage soft companies in Europe! All this with a population of only twice PEI's. What is PEI like today? When I described how politics and money worked on PEI, an Indian friend of mine said "Hey Rob that is how the Res works!" Is he far wrong? Are we not like a reservation where the band council plays off its friends and the feds? Are we not in danger of establishing a dependency culture. Hey we have just spend $25 million dollars on a casino!

What is at stake? At stake is having the right kind of culture to make it in the world. The best thing that my father ever did for me was to refuse to help me buy my first house. Boy was I angry. The second best thing he did was to die young. I knew that not only did I have no one to lean on but that my entire family depended on me. I grieve for him but losing him mean that I knew that there was no backup up. It was up to me. What a gift!

Canada reminds me of a dysfunctional family. "He got a bigger share than I did" - "It's my oil and I won't share" - "You never really loved me" . "Have Not" leadership is all about manipulating the feds rather than doing the right thing at home. "Have Not" citizenship is all about the handout and blame. "Have" leadership is all about bragging and holding on. The Feds are all about pleasing rather than doing the right thing.

It's a mess. We on PEI do not gain by having our hand out. We lose. We lose our souls as well as our way of life. Time to grow up. Time to tax less at the centre and tax more locally. Time to shrink the feds big time. Time to see issues such as healthcare and education as systemic problems to be understood and solved rather than to see them as budget issues. Time to take responsibility for our own place and our own lives. It will be quite a transition but we will all be richer for it and we will all get on better as a nation.

Another huge Alberta Surplus

No surprise here. Oil prices going up, up, and up and provincial, federal, and corporate revenues also move skyward. Good news for everybody right? Well if you live in Alberta and work for an oil or gas company your year-end bonus may be $50,000 this year instead of only $30,000 - this is good. Lots of bonuses means lots of income tax and this means money for other parts of the country. Lots of bonuses means lots of recreational property bought in BC moving taxes and spending into another province. This form of federalism works - no?.

Meanwhile back in Alberta, where all this money should mean the best public education system, the best universities, the best technical schools, the best school lunch programs, the best school-busing programs, the best health care system, the best highways, the best quality of life, the best environment, and the best weather the government is faced with a few decisions.

OK lets break this down. First of all, you can't buy good weather and Alberta highways are not that bad.

However, parents in Alberta do pay for school-busing, health premiums, dental care, and for their neighbours to send their kids to private school. Alberta was not equipped to deal with a chemical spill into a popular lake. Its universities are only OK, or maybe even among the worst in the country. Our public schools are doing OK and teachers doing fine. We could do better and even though people will say you can't just throw money at problems, solving problems does cost money.

Other provinces don't have health premiums, don't charge for school busing, don't charge parents for dental care, don't subsidize private schools, or private health and can even help Alberta, as BC did with the chemical spill and Saskatchewan did with the triplets when there were no beds for them in Alberta earlier this year.* Their public schools may not do as good on standardized high stakes tests, but they don't have the experience Alberta kids do at cramming flash cards into their skulls.

Ask somebody from Prince Edward Island why they are so fortunate to have such benefits, they will tell Albertans, "if you are not going to spend it - we will". Now I don't want to comment on the amount of money provinces might get in transfer payments from others, but I do think there is a lack of realization that our country is very different from province to province and this is a great benefit for all Canadians, but do we all know enough about these differences to pursue the quality of life we all deserve. And should we demand more from ourselves, our neighbours, and our leaders to help deliver greater benefits to all Canadians no matter where they are.

* Interesting note about this story about the triplets that could not be delivered in Alberta due to a bed shortage. When googling to provide a link to this story I only found coverage at CBC.ca and the Alberta Liberal Website publishing an article that looks as though appeared in the Calgary Herald.
http://www.liberalopposition.com/index.php/content/more/expectant_mom_flown_east_because_of_local_bed_shortage_triplets_unharmed_by/
I could not find any other online news source to link to this , what would appear to be a non-story except for CBC and the Alberta Liberal Party. Of course when trying to view the google search result on CBC, I received a message stating that specific content was not available, including this story, due to a labour dispute. Conclusions.....