Word.
CBC? Money very well spent.
Absolutely!
I mean, if a person cannot find a pleasure or benefit in at least one CBC Radio program then, I don’t know… maybe a person should submit to Cross-country Checkup because As It Happens some of the Quirks and Quarks can induce a good feeling especially in Metro Mornings on your way to Definitely not the Opera to have a bite of The Q 
Yes, but you wouldn’t be willing to make that a voluntary contribution would you? … Didn’t think so.
So you think you know more on what I value than I do. I’ve already said, “A good meal, a couple of tickets to a movie”, is more valuable to me. Value is a perception. Sounds like good liberal thinkology that your perception of value is somehow more ‘valuable’ than mine and that others should pony up the bucks to pay for yours.
Yes, I would.
Your meal is not as valuable to our society as the CBC. Sounds like typical Libertarian selfishness to me.
Listen, the fire station down the road has never done a damn thing for me, but I’m not dumb enough to think we shouldn’t all pay for it out of our taxes. And just because they’ve never put a fire out in my house doesn’t mean their proximity hasn’t saved me on my house insurance.
I believe in the public good.
That is your opinion. My meal only cost $33. 30,000,000 meals are pretty damned important to society.
Didn’t you just say you’d be for voluntary contributions to replace the government subsidy? Make up your mind which side of a fence you actually sit on.
Are you comparing a fire station to the CBC? If both disappeared tomorrow they’d have equivalent consequences? That the affects on people’s live are similar? That someone who missed (insert some current CBC show of choice) ranks it the same as if the fire department fails to show up when they need it? Really?:dubious:
Your definition of it, you mean.
Congrats on the house! As someone who gave up the gas mower for a reel mower almost ten years ago I can tell you I haven’t regretted it. You will however, have to make a few adjustments. First off, you’ll pretty much have to cut at least twice/wk. You won’t be able to cut it if it grows too high. And you should buy the sharpening kit as well. Lee Valley sells both and aren’t outrageously priced(to my mind).
A good whipper snipper would be a smart idea also.
I’ve never charged them when they have interviewed me, and I have never charged them when the call me for leads or call me when fact checking. I already pay through my taxes, and pay gladly.
Were it no longer covered through my taxes, I would pay directly, but I would also expect my taxes to be reduced. I don’t see the government ever reducing my taxes, and certainly not to compensate for dropping the CBC as a public service, so since there will be no drop in taxes for me, I very much want my taxes going to something useful, including the CBC.
We did almost the opposite. Our reel mower was wonderful in our first house, which was tiny lot with grass only in the front (never did manage to get the back done: had to build the garage and deck first, then once that was done we moved) but keeping up with the bigger lawn in our new house was too much. You really do need to cut it twice a week when it’s in an active growing phase.
I gave up the reel mower, and got a small electric instead. It’s not that noisy, and I haven’t managed to mow over the cord yet, so so far so good.
There was a recent thread here about which television channels you watch the most, and I realised that the channel I watch the least is probably CBC. As far as I know, they don’t have a single program that interests me. I do listen to As It Happens once in a while, however.
You’re welcome! The ones you can get from U-Haul or similar worked pretty well for us, and I’m glad to hear that they worked for you too.
I use a push mower, and find it not too difficult. If I had bigger lawns, I might get some sort of power mower, but a push mower is fine for what I have.
I’m just not seeing that. I never listen to the CBC radio, and I never watch anything on the CBC channel on tv - I’m sure I’m far from alone in that. Sincere question - what does CBC do that all Canadians value? (Because it is all of our money.)
I have to call you on that, too - I also believe in the public good, and I believe in some funding for the arts, but I’m not sure that funding CBC is the way to go about it. And, for the record, if I read that link correctly, this isn’t about stopping funding for the CBC - it’s about the government having more say in the collective bargaining of the unions in the CBC. I’m not even sure I support the CBC being a union shop.
On a completely unrelated note, in case you weren’t jealous of our mayor enough, Mayor Who - yes, Mayor Nenshi is a big ol’ nerd. 
Where I am, it is the only radio station that covers local, regional, national and international news in any depth, and is the only radio station that has interesting programs. The other radio stations have music (top 40, favourite oldies, etc.) and rush hour penis conversations.
CBC Radio is the only radio station around here that has programs from across Canada, which is important to me, given I am very interested in what life is like and what goes on elsewhere in Canada.
Most significantly, if you want to listen to the heartbeat of our community – to learn of what is going on about town, of what is happening and who is doing what, be it municipal or provincial endeavours, or social groups and activities, or just plain old folks making their way through life in their many and varied ways, the CBC has it covered, while no other radio station around here does.
Link not working for me.
Okay, let’s try this one.
You haven’t listed anything that CBC does on the Canadian taxpayer dollar that I don’t get from other sources.
I think location may be key to the debate.
Where I am, for example, the CBC has a minimal presence. CBC radio is simply whatever CBC Calgary is broadcasting; the local transmitter is just a repeater. As such, nothing local is broadcast on CBC Calgary unless it’s a major local news story (examples would include a gun murder, another wildfire threatening our city, or something connecting events here to Calgary) that catches the ear of CBC Calgary. We do get a lot of lesser local news and events from other commercial radio stations though.
Interestingly, CBC TV has no local presence at all. Again, what we do get, we get out of Calgary; but what is even more interesting is that both Global and CTV have local TV operations. Mostly, they produce daily local news programs; but as with any local news show, there is plenty of talk about local events and people. And they slide in commercials for local businesses over top of those for Calgary businesses as well. Not that commercials are any great thing, but at least Global and CTV are trying to maintain a local presence and to be a part of the community.
Not saying the CBC is useless in local matters–it certainly sounds like it is useful to you, Muffin–but I would suggest that its usefulness depends on one’s location.
Yup.
When I was a kid, the whole family gathered around to listen to CBC radio before dinner together. Many people did this. In the morning Dad and Mom would read the newspaper, and in the evening everyone would listen to CBC.
For better or worse, I don’t think this happens as much anymore. There are simply too many alternative sources of, well, everything - news, commentary, what-have-you. Newspapers are feeling the pinch, even very niche local community newspapers (I read just the other day that the Canadian Jewish News was dead).
Quite aside from whether one is conservative or liberal, I don’t think the centralized-model of distribution, where one gets news etc. from a couple of different reliable and steady sources, is going to last much longer - and without that, it doesn’t make much sense (nostalgia aside) to keep a public one going.
When I was a kid, I used to watch a lot more CBC television. Why? Because that was one of the two channels we received. (Or two of the three channels we received, if you count SRC.)