Dear CBC, I’m ASHAMED of you

And I’m not probably not the only one to think about this.

There are 35.16 million people in Canada

Not exactly sure how they get .16 but anyways, you get the point.
Now I’m a big fan of CBC as I’m sure many Canadians are because well, what can get more Canadian than CBC?
When it comes to the Paralympics though, I am absolutely ashamed of CBC. Even when CTV did the Olympics for a couple of years, I was ashamed of them as well. Now I know it’s not a Canadian  thing to be saying anything like this, and I’m sorry for saying it.
It’s true though.
I almost feel  like I want to throw around the word idiot as well, but that might be going a little too far.

Why am I ashamed of CBC?

Every year, whether on CBC, CTV, or some other Canadian channel, the Paralympics seemed like they get pushed to the back burner, the credits after a movie where everyone leaves. (Except a film by Marvel, we all know everyone stays in their seats for that.)
When the Olympics are on, everyone from all over the world are glued to their television sets because honestly, it’s the only thing on.
Everyone is cheering for their athletes, watching the events unfold on live tv since the events are actually happening then.

The Olympics are done and over with every two years, (counting both summer and winter) two weeks in between and then the Paralympics happen.

That’s when everything changes.

No longer is everyone glued to their television sets to watch because the Paralympic games are barely ever shown on television, except for maybe a two hour daily highlight shown late at night when people need to sleep for work or school. There was one year that CITY was showing CBC’s broadcast because CBC wasn’t really showing anything at all.
I’m currently  laying on the couch underneath my huge TARDIS blanket, typing this on my laptop while I watch the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremonies on CBC.
Want to know something? This isn’t even being shown live. You know during the Olympics how they put the word live underneath the CBC logo?  Yeah, there’s nothing there. I’m also on twitter and see that CBC retweeted a photo of the opening ceremonies from over an hour before. What is going on CBC? Are you people slow or something?
I even checked tomorrow on the tv guide. They aren’t even showing the daily highlights until midnight, and I just see on Saturday and Sundays, three shows a day. Does that mean they’re all going to be the same thing? Or is CBC going to do the smart thing and have them all be different?
What about everything else you ask? Internet streaming.
I don’t know who or why they decided to do everything internet streaming, but it’s a very stupid decision. Sure, they can do that, CBC is in Toronto, where they have super fast internet and everywhere is great wifi. Not everyone lives in Toronto,  there are other places in Canada too, and not everyone has super fast internet. Not everyone who actually has the internet at their house can afford super fast internet.
So when they try to stream everything, what happens? Well for starters, the quality sucks, it’s like standard tv quality and maybe worse than that. Then there’s “If you put it up to full screen everything looks really bad” deal. We’re stuck watching it on a small screen on your monitor as well. Last Paralympics I did that, and trying to put it full screen was horrible. There’s also a slight matter of fact about this little thing called lag, which absolutely sucks.
You’re watching let’s say basketball for example. The game’s going, the quality is ok without it being full screen on the CBC Olympics site. The game’s going good, and then all of a sudden, it lags, and the screen freezes. So every minute or two you’re refreshing the page just so you can watch the wheelchair basketball game, and you miss some amazing plays.
That was me by the way, so frustrated at it.

And then, think about the seniors, or anyone else that doesn’t have internet access that want’s to cheer on their athletes. Everyone has CBC because it’s Canada, but you can’t  stay up super late,. How is anyone other than people with super fast internet able to watch anything at all live?

And there’s Paratriathalon and Paracanoeing this year. Those sound absolutely exciting, but I don’t they’ll get shown. Even with the Olympics, only the well known sports get shown which is frustrating, almost sounds a little biased too?

I remember reading on the CBC sports page a few years ago with people complaining about the same thing I’m complaining right now.

The Paralympics coverage sucks big time.

They have all of their announcers and everything used up and they don’t bother to send anyone so they can get back to their regularly scheduled lives.

Scott Russell just mentioned how we’ll hear words throughout the ceremony, yet how can we hear anything since nothing get’s shown and with live streaming, or a least when I watched it, there were no announcers?

Honestly CBC, you need to be fair, because these parathletes work as hard or harder than the able body athletes yet the television companies don’t treat them the same.

Doesn’t Canadian Tire say “We All Play For Canada?”

Maybe we can send a message by everyone not watching CBC for a whole week?
Watching the commercial asking if we can keep up with Canada’s Paralympic athletes with the workout videos, I’m not so sure if CBC can keep up

We want to cheer on our athletes at the Paralympics just like the athletes at the Olympics CBC.

#ENDOFRANT

Dear Ontario Northland,

I’m not sure what to say or how to even start this, and I must say that I’m not even sure what to think about the events of today. I found out about all of this going to work this morning with my dad (Since we both work at the same place I can get rides) and we were listening to CBC Sudbury’s Morning North with Markus Schwabe program when it was announced. I’m still frustrated about this. You say you want to cut costs? You’ve taken out the passenger train, and now you’re cutting the stations in Englehart and Matheson so you can streamline services? Like that’s going to happen.

So this is my open letter to Ontario Northland.

You know how much your going to lower ridership? Do you know how many people don’t have vehicles of their own or are senior citizens? Or the people that rely on taking the bus so that they can actually get to work even though they’ll still be early since it’s the only way for them to get to New Liskeard. So what are they supposed to do? Change their schedule because they don’t have a way to work in the afternoons? Where are they going to get bus tickets now and where’s it going to stop?

If you haven’t realized, This is me that I’m talking about. I live in Englehart. I work at Walmart, and now with these changes I might have to change my schedule because there might not be a way to get into work in the afternoons anymore. I’ll be going to the bus station this afternoon to try and figure things out a little better.

I know it’s not until May for this to take into effect, but if things happen the way that they might, I know my schedule a couple weeks in advance, so I really need to know what’s going on so I don’t have to keep calling in because there is no way that I can make it in the afternoons.

And even looking at places in New Liskeard to rent to try and be closer to work, I can’t afford any of them.

I know I’ve been talking about myself here but how many others are like me that rely on the train to get to work, to get to doctor and Hospital appointments, etc. You’ve taken the trains away and now the busses. Do you want people to move out of Northern Ontario or to stay?

And if it stops still, it might be where? Coffee Time? And how are we supposed to buy our tickets? Not everyone has access to the internet and printer to purchase them online, and what I really like is buying the multipack of ticks since I work at walmart, but you can’t do that online.

John Vanthof, MPP for Temiskaming Cochrane, put out a post that explained it nicely:

“The announced closure of bus stations in Englehart and Matheson and reduced hours in other areas does not seem like the “enhanced” bus service that the North was promised when the Liberal government cancelled the Northlander.

At an ONTC presentation in Cochrane, it was made clear that the bus service was not going to be subsidized by the government. It would have to stand on its own. The recently announced cuts are a direct result of this policy. The problem is that making it more difficult to access the bus will decrease ridership making it even harder for the passenger service to break even.

The real problem is that public transportation in other parts of the province needs to be and is subsidized by the province. How long would the GO service in the GTA survive with no direct funding from the province. I support funding for the GO system but I believe that the ONTC passenger division should be afforded the same treatment.

I fully realize that the ONTC needs to be as efficient as possible but Northerners are justifiably concerned since in the past this quest has been a screen for death by a thousand cuts.”

So Thanks Toronto, the GO services still get funded, and whatever else, and we get left high and dry.

And yet, the Liberal’s can still get away with gas plants and wasting a whole lot of money.

Why can’t Northern Ontario be Treated the same way as Southern Ontario?

#NOTFAIR