Canadian Student Service Grant Program and It's Failures

RE: The now ill-fated CSSG program:

1. The PM blew it by - at the very least - not loudly and publicly recusing himself from the WE decision before any contract was awarded. Politics 101 would suggest it was dumb that he didn't. Minister of Finance tooo.

2. I am part of a small non-profit that tries to help some inner city high school kids, primarily through improving their access to sports and athletics. We have no staff; just volunteer our time. The idea of getting a student "from the hood" to help plan and coordinate further outreach initiatives, including database development was very appealing. That they would be able to receive some income to recognize their work made it practical for them and us. Our group did post a job to the CSSG site. Then the whole program got whacked. Regardless of the issues with WE, the idea made a lot of sense. Now it's potential and benefits have been drowned in the deadly sea of politics. Sad.

To the Minister of Heritage re; The National CBC News

Dear Mr. Minister

While I regularly access several online and print news sources, I want to believe that the CBC - specifically

The National- should be my main source of topical, trusted, real news. This important nightly broadcast to the entire nation could be more contentful, more analytical, more relevant, more helpful and become a world-leading News Purveyor that will make Canadians and your Government very proud. How? Make it more strategic and more watchable. 

1. First by making some watcher-friendly "technical" changes to the the broadcast. I recently made a few specific suggestions to senior executives at the National dealing with such matters as screen and logo display, the use of teasers, the At Issue Panel, COVID coverage and even re-branding the show to The CBC World News. I was favoured by a prompt return phone call and meaningful discussion. So through you, a compliment to The National staff. 

2. Then, there's the Elephant... the overwhelming amount of time taken by advertising during the one hour nightly broadcast. This is a function of the current mandate of CBC (News) and the fiscal policies of the Government/your Ministry. I ask, not naively, that you make whatever financial investment is required to allow The National to deliver its products - Real News and Best in the World Issue Analysis - ad free. *

Fourteen +/-  minutes of each hour's reporting and analysis potential are now stolen by advertising; this is an abomination.** I I believe our national news broadcast is one of the heaviest ad - infested broadcast News shows in North America. Canadians need and deserve more. The News is The Thing. The CBC is The News. Free the National! 

Why?

Removal of the requirement to sell and broadcast so many ads would mean....

• 25% more time to report and provide in-depth analysis of current affairs important to Canadians.
• Less need to play and replay redundant teasers of upcoming items resulting in...
• Another 3 or 4% more reporting and in-depth analysis time which means...
• More informed "clients" and  improved viewership. People will be more engaged, thus less likely to channel surf 
• Improved Branding for the CBC, the Government and improved (Inter) national acclaim

Having the precious minutes gained could also open up broader social opportunities. Let's consider, for example:

• More crucial, consistent expert advice on living with Covid and other topical challenges 
• A strategic focus on the country's non profit and charitable organizations which are so crucial to this country. CBC could use some of the free time to  "report on" charity and non profit successes as news and educational items. It would provide exposure to socially important groups without sucking up their ad dollars. Seeing the investment in free time as leveraging investment in the NGO world would be a pretty justifiable rationale. For smaller NGOs, their brand recognition would be established and for larger ones, extended. This in turn would encourage future donations...yet another level of leverage. 

Anyway...that's it Mr. Minister. Let's Free The National, improve its content, improve its watchability, it's loyalty and support amongst Canadians. Let's make The National Great(er)! 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to consider these ideas (and pitch!). I look forward to your thoughts and trust they will come from your most creative self.

Brian Caldwell 705 444 6268

73 Niagara St Collingwood On L9Y3X4

*Given all the pandemic money that your Government is spending to help Canadians, surely maximizing the amount, quality and conveyance of true and accurate data and expert advice to Canadians everywhere should be part of the pandemic effort. 

**That there seems to be no governing policy regarding the type or quality or strategic purpose to the ads is a concomitant problem/opportunity. Enough of the Pizza delivery ads etc. They detract from the gravitas of the broadcast and make customer loyalty far less likely.
 

 If there must be some ads (albeit far fewer) accept and promote only those with useful, educational information on themes of relevance to Canadians. See earlier comments regarding NGOs.

CBC National TV News

Jerry Dias wrote a piece recently for my local paper. His thesis was that the big internet companies have an advantage in attracting advertising; that is unfair because they use (steal/borrow/expropriate content often created by others; and, there are very negative consequences for our traditional (print) news organizations as a result. I agree.

But that (and a growing nightly frustration) got me thinking of news organizations...why -  particularly during the pandemic when the public is starving for good, deep information on so many matters  - does the CBC - the broadcaster and news generator that we own - kill us with advertising on The National News broadcast?  Ad time limits severely reporting and analysis potential.The government is spending billions on helping Canadians. Free up The National from advertising every night and use the time to inform. The ad breaks are so pervasive I am prone to give up on The National. And that's pretty sad. It is a vital, far reaching, publicly owned vehicle that can touch so many Canadians. Tell us more about the country and the world we are dying to understand. Forget selling products. Sell some ideas and knowledge. Please.

Charlie is an Inspiration in the midst of....everything!

I have long been bewildered by the world, its order, its disorder, its beauty and its power and am even more so now, in these pandemic days that is. I have seen deeds, read words and heard songs of love that serve to perspectivize the pandemic and life itself; many are creative and inspiring. The source of inspiration seems at first to be the words and deeds themselves but it may rather be the thought that there are people who are capable of such writing and songs and deeds – and that some are my friends. Always knew they were gifted.

But I’m a pretty simple guy. My recent night time reading was Volume 1 of Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedia...Featuring Your Body” (1980). It took maybe 4 nights to get through its 54 pages. The section on “What is a Virus” was notable but there was no mention of the current beast of course. Many of the other sections could form a good Trivia game for all of us as we look for stuff to do and think about. How about these gnarly questions...

• What is a Funny Bone?
• Why do you shiver on a cold day?
• What actually are “Goose Bumps”
• Why do you drop a hot potato?
• Why are some people ticklish and others not?
• What is an Adam’s Apple?
• What is the process of sneezing?

And here’s a few facts I gleaned from Charlie. (I trust him and did not fact check any).

• Hair grows faster in summer and averages about 3/4 inches / month
• The longest sneezing fit (in 1980) was 155 days!
• People have about 100,000 hairs on their heads. (Those were the days my friend).
• We have 206 bones, 1/2 of which are in hands and feet.
• H2O is =~ 60% of body weight.
• We breath about 11,000 litres of air in and out a day.
• Our skin weighs twice as much as our brain.

So, thanks again to Charles and Charlie, Snoopy, Woodstock and all the others...you are all continuing lights in the middle of a dark tunnel.

Keep on keeping on eh!

Short Poem of the Month...Jan 2020

I asked a friend a friend about a one act play that my diary tells me he wrote in 1964. I commented in review that I found it quite humorous and pertinent. About our love lives, I think.

He sadly recounted he'd both forgotten ever writing it and regardless, had no manuscripts anywhere. He allowed though, that he used to write the odd ditty-poem (yes,"ditty"). He was good enough to share one and, here it is: Put your self in the Rockies on a lovely Summer Day and then...read on eh, and appreciate our art.

Asinine Alliteration

"The majestic moose meandered down the darkened dawn participating perceptively in a yodeling yawn."

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