Big Brother wants to silence us

Big Brother wants to silence us

A few months ago, the great Krista Erickson, host of a show called Canada Live on the new Sun News Network, interviewed a Montreal artist named Margie Gillis.

Instead of just telling Gillis how awesome she is, Erickson asked her some good questions about why she needed money from the government to dance.

More than $1.2 million over 13 years, in fact, for her and her company.

Krista and Gillis went back and forth for 20 minutes -- it was a vigorous debate, probably the first time Gillis was ever asked real questions, instead of just receiving a tongue bath from the CBC.

Because, really, how could the CBC ever ask Gillis about her $1.2 million in tax money for her dancing if the CBC takes $1.1 billion a year in tax money for what they do themselves? There is a built-in conflict of interest that prevents the CBC from doing real journalism, because they're owned by the government and they live off government welfare.

I was totally convinced by Krista. But some people were convinced by Gillis -- they thought she won the debate. But that's the thing -- for the first time ever, there was a debate about government-funded art.

Hallelujah! Finally, some free speech, some diversity in what has been a conformist TV news culture.

But Gillis and her fellow tax-funded government artists didn't like the fact Krista dared to question her. So they declared war on the Sun.

They immediately started a coordinated campaign to censor us. They set up Facebook and YouTube pages directing other government-funded artists to write to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council and the government TV regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to condemn us.

Just to be clear: Gillis didn't ask her friends to write to us. She asked them to write to the censors.

Well, it seems like every single Canadian artist who gets a handout from the government felt like their cash cow was in jeopardy, so literally thousands of them wrote form letters to the CBSC and CRTC to complain.

Imagine that: Artists are supposed to be at the forefront of freedom of expression. But government artists care more about their grant money than freedom. So they piled on.

Not to debate us. They don't believe in debate. They want to silence us.

Well, this week the Sun finally fired back. Our lawyers wrote a letter to the CBSC complainers explaining very slowly, and in small words, we are not part of the government. We are not like the CBC, which is owned and controlled by the government. We are free.

But if the CBSC puts us on trial, get this, their trials are held in secret. We're not even allowed to attend their hearing. Krista Erickson won't even be allowed to be there.

And if we're convicted, there isn't even any right to an appeal. It's a kangaroo court in every sense of the words. But if we don't submit to these censors, we don't get our TV licence renewed by the government. It's right there in our licence.

I don't know if the CBSC will hear the case, or convict us. I've dealt with censors before at Canada's oppressive human rights commissions. In my experience, they enjoy throwing their weight around. It's pretty much their reason for existence, isn't it?

If we are convicted, I predict a chorus on the left -- including our government competitors at the CBC state broadcaster -- will try to snuff us out.

They liked things a lot better when there was only one, official view allowed. We're finally providing the other point of view.

Do you like the Sun News Network? The TV ratings say hundreds of thousands of Canadians do.

Well, enjoy it while you can because Big Brother doesn't like it one bit.

EZRA LEVANT, QMI AGENCY