CBC Says No To Jean Vanier on HMWN

HMWN recently asked the CBC for permission to broadcast BECOMING HUMAN by Jean Vanier which was originally aired on the program IDEAS for the 1998 MASSEY LECTURES.

We e-mailed the CBC several times.  We got no reply. On July 17, I went down to the CBC's Toronto office. Once there I spoke to Barbara Brown who referred us to Judy McAlpine, the person responsible for licensing agreements. Since she was not available, I left her a message and later that same day we were informed that the CBC would not give HMWN the broadcast license to air this nine year old program.

After the initial shock and dismay, we're asking why is the CBC responding with a "NO"

Isn't the CBC a PUBLIC broadcaster, supported by US, the taxpayers? We were told that because HMWN Radio Maria is a religious station, the CBC could not license its program to a faith- based radio.  It could only do so with other public broadcasters.

Does that mean than over 40% of Canadians, who are Catholic, cannot have access to a program that they paid for nine years ago and is now sitting in the archives?

As of March 2007, HMWN has been granted a CRTC license to broadcast digitally across Canada.

Is the CRTC approval to be ignored by the CBC simply because we are a religious station?

After all, the only thing we want to do with this program is to make it available to the public--- five lectures, five hours of content covering ways in which we can all be better human beings, and thus build the common good, irrespective of religion.  So to call us a "religious" broadcaster and brush us aside is not only condescending and discriminatory, but it attempts to demean what we do.  The CBC must realize that our programs do represent and reach the general public, who are also citizens of this great country.

Yes, we were disappointed at the negative response by Ms. McAlpine because we know that rights are routinely given for personal use as well as to public broadcasters. Now, isn’t Catholic radio, HMWN part of that public?

We have written to the president of the CBC and the CBC ombudsman. We have also let Stephen Harper, the prime minister and our local member of parliament know about the issue. We will continue to speak up and defend our Catholic right to the airways and to air programs that belong to all Canadians.

If we as Catholics want the media to reflect what we believe in, the Gospel values, then we must make our voices heard. If you have any ideas, suggestions or thoughts on any of this, please let us know at HMWN. We welcome your input.

In our next issue of our web magazine, I’ll let you know how this matter is developing. We pray that our Blessed Mother Mary will help the CBC come to its senses.

Lou Iacobelli

HMWN Radio Maria