The details of Doug Ford’s first budget were just released, and just as we feared, Mr. Ford has unleashed cuts on TVO.

We all saw this coming, but I’m still in disbelief.

The details of Doug Ford’s first budget were just released, and just as we feared, Mr. Ford has unleashed cuts on TVO. The damage is just shy of $2,000,000 – a 4.5% cut. That may not sound like a lot, but you have to remember that TVO’s budget has been frozen since 2015. Adjusting for inflation, Ford’s cuts leave TVO’s budget 11% smaller than it was in four years ago.

Maybe Steve Paikin asked one tough question too many.

He boasts that his is the first ever “government for the people”, but Doug Ford’s war on Polkaroo flies in the face of the people’s will. Last year, our research found↗︎ that 73% of Ontarians support maintaining or increasing funding for TVO and TFO, including 66% of people who would consider voting for Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.

The people’s will is clear. Will you help us to make it heard? Please give generously to support our phone blitz.↗︎

TVO, and its French-language counterpart TFO, provide invaluable current affairs and educational programming that enrich the lives of all Ontarians. Ford’s assault on public broadcasting is a direct affront to our culture of decency and democracy.

We have an ambitious plan to place 10,000 phone calls to Progressive Conservative MPPs, so they come to understand just how much Ontarians value public broadcasting. To do that, we need to raise $10,000 in the next 48 hours. Please chip in so we can respond with force.

Just like his populist counterparts around the world, Doug Ford is no fan of an informed public. When journalists expose his shortcomings, he calls them “the opposition.” He plans to fire 3,475 teachers, and now we know that he’s no friend of TVO.

An ignorant society is vulnerable to authoritarianism. That’s why we must do everything we can to stop Doug Ford’s assault on Ontario’s educational public broadcasters.

Help us make 10,000 calls to Progressive Conservative MPPs. Let’s show Mr. Ford what people power can do.↗︎

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting