Action Steps to Save the Orchestra

If we all take these 5 steps, we can save the orchestra.

1. Write a letter to your Member of Parliament
2. Write a letter to Prime Minister Harper
3. Write a letter to Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage
4. Write a letter to Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO of CBC
5. Sign a paper petition in your community

Mail forwarding is the heart of this petition. Please email other concerned Canadians to let them know that they too can have a voice against the decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra. Thanks for supporting Canada’s CBC Radio Orchestra!

 
Colin Miles(just off camera left with megaphone), Canadian Music Centre, addresses the enthusastic crowd at the April 11, National Day of Action  in Vancouver. Two supporters lace up the gloves in preparation for the fight we are bringing to the CBC.

The National Day of Action to Save CBC Radio Orchestra and Radio2 has allowed Canadians to raise their voices from coast-to-coast in this rolling protest. Several hundred supporters of the CBC Radio Orchestra and lovers of classical music and Canadian culture, protested outside of CBC headquarters on Cambie Street in Vancouver at 9:00 a.m. this morning as similar actions took place across the country. The message was clear: Canadians believe that this orchestra is a relevant part of our Canadian culture, supports the CBC mandate of nurturing Canadian musicians and composers, and is worth preserving. The termination of the orchestra has sparked patriotism amongst Canadians. Beyond the obvious value of this national and historic orchestra, the CBC Radio Orchestra has come to symbolize those parts of our arts and cultural heritage that give Canada its distinctness and richness.

View the SaveTheCBC.ca Protest Slideshow

• Read the Friday April 11th Georgia Straight Article
• Read the Friday April 11th CBC New Article

Organizers of this action urge you to show up and be heard. Let’s show CBC Radio that we’re not going to take it any more. This is our national broadcaster and our Radio Orchestra!

Those who can not attend the rally can still be heard. You can call, leave a voice-mail, or email CBC contacts or other officials during or close to protest times. Thanks to UBC student, Laurie T, for this brilliant suggestion.

Date: Friday, April 11, 2008
Check the time and location for your city.

Mail forwarding is the heart of this petition. Please email other concerned Canadians to let them know that they too can have a voice against the decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra. The petition has been signed about 1000 times per day since the April 1st launch. Thanks for supporting Canada’s CBC Radio Orchestra!

Plain ol’ economics is driving this decision and the CBC obviously did not consider more than that. CBC is “reshaping” its radio programming, and that reshaping has been the demise of many beloved classical and non-classical national broadcasts that we Canadians know and love, and now, it may mean the end of this unique Canadian orchestra.

The dismantling of the orchestra, formed in 1938, is the latest in a string of decisions that have seen classical music losing time slots on the public broadcaster’s airwaves. Recent decisions have moved classical music away from morning, afternoon, and evening slots. Popular classical CBC shows including Music & Company, Here’s to You, Studio Sparks, and DiscDrive have all been scheduled for cancellation. Last year, Music for a While, Two New Hours, Symphony Hall, The Singer and the Song, and Northern Lights were cut. The CBC Young Composers Competition was also recently terminated.

Jessica Werb- March 28 - Georgia Straight

The CBC may not have considered that many Canadians care about more than mere dollars and cents when it comes to preserving our cultural institutions. The CBC Radio Orchestra, and CBC’s once rich and diverse programming, are part of that culture. They are as Canadian as back bacon, hockey, maple syrup, and multi-culturalism. CBC Radio Canada and its orchestra are part of what makes Canada, Canada. Why is it that decisions made at the highest levels, affecting all Canadians, are made without consultation? Without consulting tax-payers like me, who pay the bills? Surely, someone should have asked me and the umpteen thousands of Canadians who care more about culture than blind acts of “fiscal responsibility” or “doing the hard thing” or whatever other euphemisms are used to describe rash acts of cultural barbarism.

Many Canadians would agree that the CBC Orchestra and what it brings to the Canadian cultural scene are worth at least the less than 1 million dollar budget. How about this notion? Instead of politicians voting themselves raises this year or next, instead of wasting time studying this or that, or forming working groups or commissioning studies, or studying commissions, let’s ask them to consider what is good for Canada, and not just easier for programming, or good management.  These things are not all that matters in decision making that has deeper cultural impact.

Please, my fellow Canadians, fellow culture-hugging, maple syrup slurping siblings of Hockey Night and CBC, lets work together on this. We can do it! Really. Write a letter. Bombard the CBC with good old fashion Canuckian rantings about how you want this orchestra, good homegrown CBC programming and classical music, new music, and live performance. Let the band play on!

Write any or all of the following, and please sign the petition

CBC/Radio-Canada - English Services
Audience Relations
250 Front Street West
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6
1-866-306-INFO (4636) Toll-free
416-205-6688 (TDD)
website: www.cbc.ca/contact/

CBC/Radio-Canada - French Services
Audience Relations
P.O. Box 6000
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A8
514-597-6000 (General)
1-866-306-INFO (4636) Toll-free
514-597-6013 (TDD)
e-mail: auditoire@radio-canada.ca

CBC/Radio-Canada
Corporate Communications, Head Office
P.O. Box 3220, Station C
Ottawa, ON K1Y 1E4
613-288-6033 (General)
e-mail: liaison@radio-canada.ca

Write or call Jose Verner , Minister of Canadian Heritage (aka Ministry of Culture) at:

Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0M5
Telephone