Isn't it bizarre that various levels of Canadian government have come to rely on American social media to communicate with their citizens?
And how now suddenly we see the catch?But there's a logical solution, which I haven't yet seen described anywhere: the CBC.
It's a public broadcaster, heavily subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, available to anyone with an internet connection: surely the CBC could be "encouraged" to have a dedicated space for public service announcements!
When we lived in the Cariboo in BC's interior in the 70's, local radio had a program (quite the most popular program among that listenership) which involved intensely local news, gossip, and information especially for people living in the outlying areas who had no telephone access. Obviously people in the area knew exactly how to operate the system, and as far as I know, it worked just fine.
The CBC already runs a fine online digital news service. A dedicated add-on should be no problem, and we'd quickly get used to consulting it.
Letter to the Globe, sent August 21, 2023
published in slightly abbreviated form August 23
