All your life you have battled for the Conservative cause. You believed it and still believe it to be right, the better path for Canada. Now you are presented with an important turning point. On the one hand, Sun TV has been battling the forces of Bolshevism, Islam, political correctness, feminism, the Liberals, nanny-statists, wets and bed-wetters. You would like it to propser. You like Ezra Levant and his merry band of provocateurs and agents of change.
On the other hand you are against the Canadian tendency to go fetch a public subsidy. Sun TV, and its corporate owners, are stretching out their hands to reach into the public’s pocket, by having the CRTC declare them essential services under section 9(1)h of the Broadcasting Act, just like the other newschannels of CTV and CBC. “Must carry”.
9. (1) Subject to this Part, the Commission may, in furtherance of its objects,
(h) require any licensee who is authorized to carry on a distribution undertaking to carry, on such terms and conditions as the Commission deems appropriate, programming services specified by the Commission.
This is how Sun TV presents its case.
The fact that the Media Party opposes Sun Media is not sufficent reasoning that the CRTC should grant Sun Media its must-carry privileges, just to spite the Media Party.
On the other hand, given the realities of Canadian subsidy politics, Sun’s request for 18 cents a month from all cable subscribers is modest, compared to what CBC and CTV get.
Yet, they are still asking for state subsidy and compulsory placement in a favourable position.
This brings me back to the inscription, above, on the One Ring in Lord of the Rings. The Ring of Power is temptation itself. Let us take the teensiest part of the Ring of Power, but we will use it for good. That is what the Ringwraiths thought they could do.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul
Ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum ishi krimpatul.
Lord Harper intends to rule them all, and if I were he, I would do the same. So I reckon chances are good that Sun TV will dip its fingers into your pocket in the name of “conservative” state subsidized television.