On December 15, 1996 Mike Duffy interviewed Sheila Copps on his  television show, Sunday Edition, about cuts to the CBC. On that program, Sheila Copps said:

"The total number of news people that were let go including voluntary-fired, as opposed to the people who took voluntary layoffs across the country were nineteen - nineteen people across the country in news were laid off last week against their own wishes, the rest were voluntary retirement."

Three days later on As It Happens, Sheila Copps told Michael Enright:

"I never said that there were nineteen involuntary layoffs."

Which Sheila Copps Do You Believe?

The truth is – during the 1993 election campaign the Liberals promised stable multiyear financing for the CBC. You can look it up. It's on page 89 of the Red Book. And it's a promise worth keeping.

Instead, the Liberal Government cut 400 million dollars and thousands of staff from the CBC. 

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To hear Sheila Copps' first statement, download the .wav file here (1.2MB)

To hear Sheila Copps' second statement, download the .wav file here (200KB)

To hear a CEP Local 87-FM (Hamilton, ON) broadcast of both statements, download the .wav file here (3.7MB)