Statement from FRIENDS on the election of a Liberal minority government
“Throughout the 2021 federal election FRIENDS and our thousands of supporters worked tirelessly to make sure that standing up for Canadian voices was an issue of importance to candidates across the country."
OTTAWA, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 – Raymonde Lavoie, Chair of the Board of Directors of FRIENDS, made the following statement:
“Throughout the 2021 federal election FRIENDS and our thousands of supporters worked tirelessly to make sure that standing up for Canadian voices was an issue of importance to candidates across the country.
Hundreds of letters to the editor were published in newspapers across the country. Thousands of Canadians wrote directly to their candidate in support of Canadian storytelling. Countless others called their candidates directly. Political leaders should have no doubt that Canadian voters care deeply about our media and journalism.
Now that the election results are known, FRIENDS looks forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Trudeau and the Liberal government on these important issues. We were pleased to see that the Liberals made clear campaign commitments around our 4 main issues:
- A stronger CBC/Radio-Canada, with fewer ads;
- Compelling streaming platforms to contribute to great Canadian stories;
- Legislate to ensure that Google and Facebook compensate Canadian news organizations for their content, including the CBC;
- Take action to counter online harm.
Our supporters pledged their vote to parties that would defend the CBC and Canadian storytelling. We will quickly engage with the government to ensure that they respect their promise to act within the first hundred days on these specific campaign pledges. FRIENDS is ready to hold the Liberals to account and we look forward to working collaboratively on their promises.”