Canada’s remarkably incurious “National Broadcaster”
The CBC is out of ideas for progress
From: VP in Alberta, October 27, 2022
To: Ideas, CBC Radio, cc Friends of CBC
Dear Nahlah Ayed et al:
I’ve long appreciated “Ideas” through its many hosts and for delving into a wide variety of topics. While I recognize you consider “no idea is off-limits”, there is one last taboo topic that all CBC programs including Ideas, shies from while all programs can be relied on to promote the opposite side of this matter. This taboo topic is of such obvious importance that many can see its tentacles reaching into almost every increasingly dire aspect of our lives from housing to climate change, agricultural decline, forest and biodiversity decline, increasing mental health and general health issues, etc. While we can now openly talk about incest, suicide, torture, gay rights, this topic remains taboo.
The topic is ourselves – our human numbers – what we are doing to our lives and our planet by unchecked growth of ourselves. CBC continuously promotes greater immigration into Canada, greater take of refugees, a need for more labour, the wonders of reaching 100 million. Yet it never delves into the downside of these and whether or not Canada and Canadians are better off with endless growth, or if we truly need an escalating work force, or would we all have improved lifestyles at 40 million, 50 million or 100 million. The other side of the equation goes unexamined. We never link climate change to our inability to contain ourselves. Why is CBC (and others) so fearful of examining whether or not ceaseless growth is good – for any reason. We don’t even look at whether or not the countries we take immigrants and refugees from are better off when we take their unwanted and surpluses.
Do you have the fortitude to invite someone from Canadians for a Sustainable Society or the ever thoughtful Dr. Madeline Weld of Population Institute of Canada to do an “Ideas” program – they would be capable of presenting an entire series of programs, addressing a host of aspects of society and our environment, including climate change, in light of growing human numbers. And, this topic is very timely, as we are about to top 8 billion humans on the planet. Shouldn’t we know if there is a single thing that has improved on the planet since we welcomed 7 billion, only a few short years ago?
Does “Ideas” have the fortitude, or could it handle the responsibility, of addressing this most important idea of all ideas? Does it dare to introduce to Canadians to the idea that even they live in a country with limitations?
Yours sincerely
VP
VP received no response.
Predictably, the CBC, the taxpayer funded “National Voice of Canada” remains silent on population, sustainability and connecting the dots of cause and effect. The statue of population growth promoter Barbara Frum, whose husband was a developer, still stands in the lobby of CBC headquarters. This would be an egregious conflict of interest in any responsible organization but the CBC clearly does not comprehend the concept of conflict of interest as it applies to themselves.
