A prominent social service agency has informed Red River College that social work students will not be accepted for practicums (necessary to complete their diploma) after 3 RRC employees concealed their role in terminating The Great Canadian Talk Show on 92.9 Kick-FM.
And other social service agencies have been informed of the deception, and may impose similar sanctions.
Barb Judt, executive director of Canada's oldest women's shelter, Osborne House, had been scheduled as a guest on the canceled November 8th episode of TGCTS, to launch a $10,000 fundraising drive for the shelter.
"The demand never ends" Judt told TGCTS this morning, " and women and children arrive at our doorstep with literally nothing and shattered spirits. They should never be the victims of institutional politics or the abuse of power and control. There are people in this city who need to learn to keep their ego in check, and realize it's not all about them."
* TGCTS had championed the cause of the shelter after clients and staff were endangered by construction of the botched Assiniboine Bike Lane in the South Broadway neighborhood. The vehicle restrictions that resulted impaired emergency response and supply deliveries to the area.
Among the negative effects of the bike lane was a tripling of the taxi fares paid by the agency due to gridlock and indirect routing caused by the loss of an eastbound driving lane.
Judts' explicit pleas to top civic officials -- including Mayor Katz -- to stop the project and engage in proper public consultation were ignored, and the mainstream media never reported on the plight of the shelter or offered to help.
"Come spend a day in my office, you'll have your eyes opened in ways you never imagined." said Judt. " After their success with reporting on the civic election, we were counting on the alternative media and Marty's show and staff to help raise awareness and ensure the voice of women and children in need was heard loud and clear."
** Judt heard of the cancellation on Friday Nov. 5 from a Free Press employee at a public event she was attending. Judt called RRC's Dean of Applied Arts, Graham Thomson, a member of the Kick-FM Board, the morning of November 8th to protest. Thomson assured her no decision about the fate of TGCTS had been made.
However late that afternoon, before he had even told host Marty Gold, Thomson called Judt to tell her he "should have been more upfront" and she would not be on the air that day. Judt told him a victim of domestic violence had agreed to tell her story to the broadcast audience that day, and that statistics showed that RRC students were in the age group most impacted by domestic violence. Thomson said there was no plan, but "we'll do something later", leaving Osborne House hanging.
** In a National Post story on November 17, Thomson
- confirmed Red River president Stephanie Forsyth had been contacted about "concerns" the Winnipeg Free Press (a supporter of the bike lane project) had with criticism voiced on TGCTS about the newspaper;
- admitted the "concerns" had been discussed by Forsyth with at least one RRC employee who is a designate to the Kick-FM Board; and
- stated the decision to axe the show was made on Nov. 2nd at a meeting he attended.
That meant Thomson had misled Judt when she first called him to express her alarm that people connected to the Free Press were spreading news about a silencing of TGCTS.
** RRC employee Cathy Hanson called Judt on Friday Nov 19th asking appearing on one of the substitute programs. Later that day Judt emailed:
"I have just learned that you are a voting member of the 92.9 CKIC.FM Radio Station Board of Directors 2009 - 2010. I understood from our conversation you were just an instructor with the college who wasn't involved with what had transpired with TGCTS/Marty Gold. This is a surprise to me and I would like you to tell me what your role in this was as I can only conclude that there was participation to silence women living with domestic violence in their lives."
** When Hanson clammed up, Judt, who runs Manitoba's largest women's shelter, took her questions to Larry Partap, head of the Creative Communications program demanding answers :
"The lack of maturity on the student's behalf was evident as the word 'retard' was mentioned on air the other day. How terribly inappropriate... The other reason for being on the show as I have explained to Graham Thomson was to raise funds for our agency. An on-air show can easily generate 10k for us and we have now missed out on this. These are the dollars used to help women and children escaping unimaginable acts of violence in their own homes...
Larry - again, I ask what was Cathy's role as well as your role with
contributing to the cancellation of the Marty Gold's show."
** On November 28 Thomson replied:
"As Cathy Hanson's dean, I offered to respond to your emails. Cathy had no role in the decision that resulted in The Great Canadian Talk Show ceasing to broadcast on KICK FM. The decision was made by the executive committe, of which Cathy is not a member. We are puzzled by your statement "I can only conclude that there was participation to silence women living with domestic violence in their lives", as nothing could be further from the truth. As I mentioned, Cathy was not involved in the previously mentioned decision, and that decsion had nothing to do with silencing women. You were offerred airtime and declined."
** Judt patiently responded:
"No need to be puzzled Graham - the facts have been presented to many of you
on numerous occasions so let's get back to the real crux of my email.
We were offered airtime with a group of people who have not instilled a
sense of confidence in our agency that they truly have an understanding of domestic violence.
The programming that has replaced TGCTS lacks content and depth.
I am sure you would agree that women and children deserve better than that. Our concerns are backed by the fact that your student freely used the word 'retard' on the air.
This is obviously something that has not been covered off in your course content and until the college demonstrates a stronger commitment to the community especially in terms of an acceptable standard of diverse points of view, maturity and communication, Osborne House Inc.will not be accepting any requests that come from the college for practicum students... "
Judt then revisited the unanswered question:
"Who are the members of the Executive Committee? How interesting is it Cathy
that you didn't disclose this little bit of information to me during our conversation."
** The next morning Thomson was forced to admit
"The Executive committee is David Wiebe, Chris Stevens, Cathy Rushton and Larry Partap. The first two are radio industry executives and the others are Red River College employees."
* * Judt's response to Thomson, Partap and Hanson was swift and direct:
"So, Larry Partap was part of the group that played a hand in canceling the show or in our case, silencing women and children living with domestic violence in their lives.
How interesting is it Larry that you too, didn't disclose this when I asked. Neither did you Cathy.
What excuse do the three of you have to offer for not being forthcoming with your information?
Sitting on a board requires a particular level of conduct ... something that appears to be lacking here. Honesty, fairness, acceptance of diverse points of view, a sense of social responsibility are just a few of the traits that contribute to a successful board. I am ever more appalled that three men and one woman knew of our show, knew of our plight to raise funds in a tough economic time and still shut the show down... The air time with Marty - a host that has demonstrated to the shelter that he well understands domestic violence, would have made a significant difference to your students and listeners.
"How interesting is it that I sat at a workshop recently where Cathy Rushton
blithered on about how much the not for profit community means in the City
of Winnipeg.....how much she believes in the work we do....how much of a
supporter she is....why don't you ask her about it. It was the State of the Not for Profit Sector Symposium held at the Aboriginal Center on Higgins in October. I've been asked to join as a member and have declined outlining this as my reason.
... The Executive shut us down and this needs to be brought to the attention of the board and public at your AGM. I am requesting a time to speak at your AGM about this".
** Judt has learned the executive committee is holding a conference call on Monday to discuss "logistics" for the Annual General meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday Dec. 9th at 11.30 AM, at the Princess Campus.
As of today, Barb Judt has not received confirmation Osborne House will be allowed to speak to the Board of Kick-FM.
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LINK TO PODCAST #2
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2010/11/tgcts-podcast-2-live-event-update.html
LINK TO PODCAST #1
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2010/11/anniversary-show-podcast-now-online.html
