From Ian Morrison of Friends of the CBC:

I have just received the following note from my friend, Margaret Atwood.

Margaret and her team have developed a new way for artists and creators everywhere – including Canadian fiction and non-fiction writers, musicians, graphic novelists and others — to reach out to new audiences here and around the globe with webcast events, personal connections, and individual signing possibilities. It’s called www.fanado.com.

This project offers an important new way for the world-class art of Canadian creators to find and reach new audiences. I have supported this important project. I invite you to consider supporting it too by visiting www.indiegogo.com/fanado.

For a project like this to work, there must be a groundswell, and a wide base of support – just as for public broadcasting, of which Margaret is a steadfast supporter.

Writing projects, fiction and non-fiction, writers, musicians, graphic novelists and more!  This might also be a great opportunity for women creators in Canada to showcase their work as well.

Related articles

• Margaret Atwood joins story-sharing website Wattpad (guardian.co.uk)
• Margaret Atwood starts raising funds for Fanado (teleread.com)
• Margaret Atwood joins Toronto-based writing site Wattpad (business.financialpost.com)
• Margaret Attwood joins the Wattpad community (teleread.com)

In today’s Budget, the Harper government has broken itselection promise and cut the CBC’s budget by 10% - this is $115 million!

This will require CBC to cut hundreds of staff, including some of the most famous personalities from flagship TV and Radio shows, thereby incurring heavy separation costs, putting further downward pressure on programming.

We were expecting something like this, but it’s shocking when you consider the impact of these cuts:

• The death of Radio 2
• Reduced depth, quality, diversity and distinctiveness of CBC News
• CBC Radio will be less relevant to Canadians
• Canadian bureaus in major cities around the world will be closed
• Further reductions to cultural programs
• CBC Television will look a lot more like private-sector commercial channels

The Table below (Budget 2012, page 269) shows how CBC has been singled out for cuts in the “Heritage Portfolio”, where other cultural institutions, such as the Canada Council and the National Gallery have been spared:

We are not going to take this lying down!

Now we have to mobilize CBC’s supporters – 8 out of 10 Canadians – to hold Stephen Harper’s government to account in the years leading to the next election, when the impact of what Harper has done today will be painfully obvious.

Thanks for standing with us as we move forward with this fight for Canadian culture and democracy! You will hear from us again soon.

Rather than a unified government voice to prepare Canadians for deep budget cuts, in recent days we have been hearing mixed messages from the Harper government. One day a government spokesperson declares cutting deeply is the budget goal only to be contradicted the next by a cabinet minister stating that the budget will be moderate. Meanwhile, the government is reporting that revenues are up while the deficit is down.

This is extremely rare, given the Prime Minister’s well known mania for control and message discipline.

Beset by the whiff of a robo-scandal, is it possible the Prime Minister is backing away from budget measures he knows will be controversial?

With all the tens of thousands of calls, letters and email messages from supporters of public broadcasting in the past few months, you can be sure the Prime Minister knows CBC cuts would be unpopular and controversial in the extreme.

Now is the time for one final push to defend our CBC before the March 29th budget.

I am writing to ask for your help to put us over the top.

We have commissioned Nanos Research to conduct a survey of Canadians about CBC funding. Early results are in and they show strong support for the government keeping its promise to maintain or increase support for the CBC. This is a very promising result that will send a strong message to the Harper government.

This public opinion survey and related communications will cost $30,000.

I urge you to join me in making a generous investment to help us raise this amount, because in this dynamic political environment, it could make all the difference.

It’s crunch time. This is the moment to drive home the message that cutting the CBC would be like poking a stick into a hornets’ nest.

Your contribution will help us leave no stone unturned as we fight to make sure the Prime Minister knows that citizens want his government to keep his government’s CBC promise.

From Friends of the CBC:

We have learned that the Conservatives’ proposed budget targets the CBC for severe cuts. The cuts, which could be the equivalent of most of the cost of producing CBC radio, will damage our news and culture, while cutting local coverage in the countless places where the CBC is the main media presence.

The CBC keeps Canada connected. Like the railroads that knit our country together, the CBC provides a common thread for all Canadians living across our massive and diverse country. We can build on this tradition for a new era.

This budget is a moment of crisis for Canadian public media. Tens of thousands of Canadians, led by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, have already spoken out to support fair treatment in the budget, and now it’s time for us to add our voices to their call. If we work together in one last push, we can show this government that the political cost of targeting the CBC is just too high.

Click here to send a message to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and key Conservative MPs that you want them to keep Canada connected, not make severe cuts to the CBC:

http://www.reimaginecbc.ca/connected

Good public media is important for our democracy and our culture. Last month, we started a campaign to “Reimagine the CBC” for a new era. The ideas are from the heart, distinctly Canadian, and often inspiring.

We can help the CBC become better for everyone, but not if excessive budget cuts destroy this opportunity. We have one last chance before the budget to show this government that there will be major political costs for targeting the CBC.

We will deliver your messages to the constituency offices of key Conservative MPs next week to show them that Canadians in their ridings, and from all around the country, want to keep Canada connected and stop severe cuts to the CBC.

Your voice is needed now. Please click here to send your message.

Thanks for everything you make possible.

With hope and respect,

Matthew, Jamie, Anna, Emma, Adam, Gracen, Ryan on behalf of the Leadnow team and volunteers.

There are the ideologues who would sell or “de-fund” our CBC without a second thought.

On the other side there are those who understand that attacking the CBC would be politically unpopular in the extreme, and therefore not worth the political cost.

Deep cuts of more than $100 million that would cripple our national public broadcaster hang in the balance.

FRIENDS is pulling out all the stops to influence this struggle right now in defence of our CBC – and you can help.

Please join with me right now and send a message to urge to your Conservative MP, Lynne Yelich to keep the promise made by the Conservative Party during the last election to “maintain or increase” CBC funding.

It’s urgent that you take action now. With the federal budget only weeks away we are running out of time to influence the government’s decisions about our national public broadcaster.

The ideologues within Conservative ranks have been on prominent display in recent days, tabling petitions in the House of Commons to de-fund or sell our CBC.

Meanwhile, with support from CBC lovers across the land, FRIENDS has been rolling out initiatives that are having an impact. During the past two months we have:

• Produced and launched the highly successful satirical campaign, Stop the CBC Smackdown
• Commissioned and published a national public opinion survey showing that the vast majority of Canadians value our national public broadcaster and want the government to keep its promise to maintain or increase CBC funding
• Conducted a telephone blitz that has connected many thousands of CBC supporters with the offices of their Conservative MPs to tell them to keep their CBC promise while these MPs were in the ridings in January

The message we are delivering to the Harper Conservatives is simple: “keep your promise to maintain or increase CBC funding”.

You can help to deliver that message directly to your MP’s email box through FRIENDS’ state of the art online advocacy system. One click of your mouse will take you to a template message to your MP.

Please personalize your message before sending – this will make it more powerful. Your action will make all the difference and takes only a few moments of your time.

Please send your message today!

From Ian Morrison, Friends of the CBC:

Never has our challenge to defend public broadcasting been more starkly clear.

On Friday, the National Post published Heritage Minister James Moore’s declaration that a smaller and diminished CBC is a key goal of the Harper government.

These are dark days, indeed, for our national public broadcaster. But not so dark that I have lost hope.

I truly believe that a small act taken by just one person can change the course of events, and I am writing to ask you to join me. Together we can make a difference.

It’s urgent that we succeed. For if we fail and the Conservatives cut more $100 million from CBC’s budget, the consequences for public broadcasting and all Canadians will be dire.

On your behalf, FRIENDS is fighting back!

On November 29, we held a news conference on Parliament Hill, where we released a major public opinion survey demonstrating that the vast majority of Canadians (including Conservative supporters) place a high value on public broadcasting and want CBC’s funding to be maintained or increased. The same day, we launched two viral videos featuring a worst-case scenario of what Prime Minister Harper might do to the CBC.

Already our campaign has delivered more than 43,000 personal messages from Canadians to Mr. Harper calling on the Prime Minister to keep his CBC election promise to maintain or increase CBC funding — and that number is growing every day.

But we must not rest.

During the next four crucial weeks we have a plan to mobilize support for our CBC, and we need your help to put it into action.

In January, the House of Commons is adjourned and MPs are back in their ridings, listening to and meeting constituents. This presents us with a key opportunity.

FRIENDS is planning a phone blitz to connect constituents with their Conservative MP so those politicians can hear directly that local voters care about public broadcasting and want our CBC protected and valued by the government.

We know that this kind of effort can have a dramatic impact on politicians. But this technique is expensive.

This “Keep your Promise” telephone campaign will cost $50,000. But it could make all the difference in our effort to keep our CBC strong and independent.

I urge you to join me in making a generous contribution to ensure the success of this focused campaign.

We’re pulling out all the stops right now to protect our CBC because after the federal Budget, it may be too late.

Working together, I am confident we can preserve Canadian public broadcasting to serve future generations of Canadians.

I spent a lovely time with family and friends over the past three days.  Which is one of the big reasons why I was not around on tumblr for the past little while.  And boy did I have an enjoyable time.  Food!  And a haul of gifts.

My favourite so far…

My CBC Shirt!  That wasn’t the only gift of apparel I received…

It’s called a pooque!  A toque.  Only with… attachments.

My biggest haul, however, came in the form of reading material.

First, there was the Hunger Games Trilogy.

Then, a collection of books from R. A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt.  Yes, I’m a Forgotten Realms geek.

Books in the above form weren’t the only things I got.  I raked in a haul of comics as well.  First of which, the first four issues of Batgirl.

Then, because it was already known I have Batwoman started…

…issue number four of Batwoman.  Followed by…

…issue three of the Huntress mini series.  Books and comics weren’t the only things I got!  I have videos to watch as well.

Russel Peters, live at the O2 Arena in London, and…

…Alfresco, which features early sketch comedy from Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

But, I think the thing that made me the happiest was something my mother informed me of.  I was informed that my book, The Adventures of Black Mask & Pale Rider, is available for lending at the Francis Morrison Library in Saskatoon.  That’s the main library for the City of Saskatoon.  Mom said she saw it there in the new arrivals section while she was looking for books herself.

So that’s my Christmas, I hope everyone else had a great holiday!