To the members of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, This is the very first time I am writing to a federal committee. I do so because I care deeply about the CBC and am concerned about possible severe cuts to this institution. We are a Luso-Canadian family living in North Vancouver with 14yo and 17yo children. We tune in to CBC Radio Vancouver every morning as we get ready for the day, and catch up on the daily news with Adrienne Arsenault and Ian Hanomansing with The National in the evening. These are not just daily routines.

This is our way of accessing facts through a common and trustworthy source of information, created by Canadian journalists for a Canadian audience, based on the principles of honest and fair reporting. Along the way we are instilling the values of integrity and critical thinking in our children. We are seeing the political radicalization of our friends and neighbours in the US, and the same worrisome trends in Canada.

In fact, it seems the majority of Canadians already get most of the news from social media, curated by algorithms and content creators that do not follow sound journalistic practices or even a regard for the truth. I ask that you ponder how to best protect Canadians from the effects of unregulated social media, and find ways to strengthen the CBC so it can hold on to its talented staff and remain a COMMON source of information for all of us at the local, regional and national level. Regards, Catarina Gomes North Vancouver, BC