Posts from — March 2009

Thanks to Mark for sending this my way.

Had a wonderful few days in Edmonton where I was giving a paper at the “Transplanting Canada” colloquium put on by the Canadian Literature Centre at the University of Alberta. Click here for a PDF of the conference program if you’re interested to learn more about what went on there.

It was really great to see such exciting things happening at the U of A these days. There are many new young faculty there and a herd of super-smart graduate students (they travel in herds on the prairies). Meeting many old and new friends from across the country and hearing some really interesting talks made this one of the best conference experiences I have had.

The folks at the CLC who planned the conference thought of everything, by the way, including hiring this guy to greet potential conference goers as they drove in to Canada.

(okay, everything I said above was true except for this last part)

Although we don’t know for sure what kinds of cuts we’ll be seeing at CBC over the next few months, it sounds like cuts are imminent. The mere mention of the potential elimination of CBC Radio 3 by one of the heads of the CBC sent shockwaves through Canada’s music scene this past week.

As a Canadian living outside of the country these days, CBC Radio 3 is a lifeline to Canada’s music scene. More importantly — and I speak as a music fan, a scholar and teacher of Canadian culture, and a former musician — Radio 3 has changed the face of the independent music scene in Canada, allowing people around the world to learn about great Canadian bands and artists to whom they would otherwise never be exposed. CBC Radio 3 makes a contribution to Canadian culture nationally and internationally that far exceeds the investment put in by CBC.

Radio 3 has also been at the cutting edge of podcasting and internet broadcasting for years now and really broke new ground for the CBC. The importance of this cannot be underestimated either. If CBC Radio wants to continue to be seen as current and cutting edge, eliminating CBC Radio 3 would almost guarantee that they would never be thought of in this way again for a long time. Radio 3 really is the success story that the CBC should be looking at as a model for other parts of their operations.

Whether you are a regular listener to Radio 3 or not (if you’re not, you should be!!), please take a minute and sign this petition.