Why Did the CBC’s Allies Wait?

Over a month ago I urged people to write their MPs about the CBC’s money problems and created a petition for the same reason. Of course I was operating without staff or a budget and there was only slight response to these. I wondered aloud a few times where the CBC’s allies were? Where was CMG? Where was Friends of Canadian Broadcasting?

Last week the announcements were made – dramatic cuts to just about every part of the CBC, 800 layoffs expected, shows cancelled etc., and suddenly opposition MPs are upset, Avaaz has a petition, Friends of Canadian broadcasting says It’s Time to Invest in Public Broadcasting – so my question remains where were they? Why did all of the CBC’s ‘allies’ wait until decisions were made before doing anything? Everyone saw this coming, but no one tried to preempt it. Everyone knew that Harper wouldn’t give anything to the CBC unless pressured and everyone who has been paying any attention to politics knows that Harper is very unlikely to change his mind after the fact – so why did they wait until it was too late?

Is the plan to giver Harper a black eye rather than actually prevent damage at the CBC? I have no problem with giving Harper a black eye, he is completely incompetent as PM, and who knows, maybe, just maybe he’ll do something to help the CBC – especially if he decides he wants to help the private broadcasters. But the time to actually prevent the damage to CBC was a month ago, or two months ago, or even when Harper tossed the extensive report compiled by the Heritage Committee in the trash. Now is just a good time to thump your chest and complain about something that you knew was coming for a long time.