Source: Barrie Examiner

A far left-wing American lobby group funded by U.S. billionaire George Soros wants you to be scared, very scared. There might soon be more competition in the world of TV news.

A group called Avaaz.org,operating out of New York City, is warning their sup-porters that Sun TV News, which has yet to launch, will bring "American-style hate media onto our airwaves." Odd, I didn't realize that Manhattan was part of Canada.

Proof that this outfit and campaign is being run out of New York can be seen in the e-mail they are sending to their Canadian supporters and anyone that signs the petition. In the e-mail Avaaz refers to Sun Media as Suncor.

Suncor, of course, does not own this newspaper nor are they applying for a TV licence -- they are an oil and gas company based in Calgary.

But obviously this American outfit knows what is best for Canadians.

The deluded people behind this campaign base their assumption on quite a bit of their own hatred and a groundless column from the Globe and Mail's Lawrence Mar-tin.

In an August 19 column, Martin claimed that if the Canada's broadcast regulator the CRTC does not grant Sun Media the TV licence they want, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper would replace Konrad von Finckenstein as chairman of the CRTC.

None of Martin's claims are backed up by fact. The prime minister's communica-tions team deny the story, and so too do those who are close to the PM person-ally. One source said they've never heard the PM speak about Sun TV News.

Part of the campaign to stop Sun TV News from launching focuses on the idea that Canadians could be forced to pay for this venture. Author Margaret Atwood took to Twitter to denounce this.

The fact is, Sun TV News has never asked for mandatory fees.

CBC News Network gets about $63 million each year from fees mandated by the CRTC. CTV News Channel gets about $15 million in mandated fees.

What this petition is about is a group of left-wing Americans supporting interests in Canada that don't want to see competition in news broadcasting.

Avaaz operates out of the New York offices of Res Publica, a collective of left-leaning church groups. In addition to Res Publica, Avaaz is backed by MoveOn.orga lobby group that has taken millions of dollars from currency specu-lator George Soros.

Unlike the wild speculation about Harper pulling the strings at an arm's-length government body, these details on the politics of the Americans trying to dic-tate Canadian television are fact.

Canadians deserve to know the facts.

© Barrie Examiner