OTTAWA – The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada has organized a demonstration for Monday at the building where the CRTC will hold hearings into the CanWest purchase of Alliance/Atlantis.
At Place du Portage IV, 140 Prom. du Portage (corner of Laurier), the unions will be “calling on the CRTC to respect its mandate and regulate in the interest of Canadians,” says the press release.
The unions are concerned that investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, which is providing the lion’s share of the equity, will have too much say, even though CanWest will control the board of directors.
“CEP, ACTRA, CWA-Canada, and CUPE say that by linking arms with a giant American investment house, CanWest is bringing foreign ownership of our media in through the back door. The media giant has already been gutting newsrooms across the country resulting in loss of jobs, loss of local programming, loss of Canadian culture and identity,” reads the release.
Watch Cartt.ca for coverage of this hearing next week as, of course, we will be there.
