Harper should go down over foreign ownership sellout

OTTAWA, March 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The Harper government should be defeated on its plans to sell off Canada's key telecommunications and broadcasting industries, says Canada's largest media union.

"We can't ask young Canadians to excel in Vancouver or sacrifice in Afghanistan while we sell the country out from under them, says Peter Murdoch, Vice-President, Media for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

"Telecommunications is now an integrated industry with the rest of the media; the sector is key for our cultural sovereignty and national security," says Murdoch.

"It is incumbent on all opposition parties to draw a line in the sand on this issue. The cultural community has been of one voice on this issue, but where are the opposition parties? We need something more than rant and rhetoric. We need leadership -- a firm 'No You Don't.'"

Murdoch says Canadians have shown in poll after poll they do not want their telecommunications/media in foreign hands.

"Harper's attempt to seduce us with a corporate shell game to create the charade of Canadian control is nonsense. We see the man behind the curtain, he looks a lot like Stephen Harper, but dressed like Yankee Doodle Dandy."

For further information: Peter Murdoch, [phone], ext. 249, [phone]