Speak up for official language minority rights
Yesterday, it was cuts to newspapers. Today, it’s local programming. Tomorrow, what will it be?
Two million Canadians live in official language minority communities. The Conservative government has a duty to ensure that these communities are provided with services that are essential to their well-being. It is the government’s responsibility.
So why does the government want to put an end to the Local Programming Improvement Fund within the next 2 years? Local stations, including 18 CBC stations, across the country will lose $106 million in funding for the creation of local programming, thus harming levels of service for official language minority communities. The Conservatives need to step up and increase funding to the CBC in order to make up for the loss of funding from the Local Programming Improvement Fund.
What they are doing is unacceptable: It’s not the first time Harper’s government targets these communities. Recently, Harper’s Conservatives came under fire when their changes to the Canadian Periodical Fund resulted in an important funding disadvantage for several newspapers published in minority communities like those in Sudbury (Le Voyageur), Manitoba (La Liberté), Alberta (Le Franco) and Nova Scotia (Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse).
As Canadians, we cannot stand for this injustice. Sign this petition and share it widely!