April 30, 2010

Whole Show Blow-by-Blow

Today's guest host was Gillian Findlay.

It's Friday, April 30th.

The CEO of Goldman Sachs has told his employees that they should expect to continue being scrutinized by lawyers, politicians and the media.

Currently, Which is why Goldman Sachs is taking a short position on Goldman Sachs. Yeah, they're that good.

This is The Current.

Greece Economy - Talk Tape

Sometime between now and Monday morning, Greece is expected to release the details of what could be the largest financial bailout in history. For several weeks, the country has teetered on the edge of defaulting on its debt. And now the Greek Government, the IMF and the European Union are trying to negotiate a way out.

But tens of thousands of Greek citizens have been taking to the streets in opposition to the austerity measures being floated by those officials. The Current's producer, Howard Goldenthal, got a little closer than he wanted to some of that unrest. Coincidentally he was in Athens this morning on what has become something of a "busman's holiday".

Greece Economy - Susan Schadler

The financial problems that began in Greece have already spread to Spain and Portugal. And Jose Angel Gurria -- the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- says the Greek crisis is like a virus threatening the entire financial system.

For a sense of just how contagious the Greek financial crisis could be, and what kind of damage it might do, we're joined by Susan Schadler. She worked at the International Monetary Fund for 30 years. She was the Deputy Director of the European Department when she left in 2007. And this morning she was near Portland, Maine.

PART TWO

Community Television - Tony Vidal

We started this segment with a clip from Tony Vidal. He's giving The Current's Dominic Girard a tour of CFTV. It's a small, community-operated and funded television station that he helps run in Leamington, Ontario. And it reaches about 40,000 homes, both over-the-air and through Cogeco, the main cable provider in Leamington.

Now CFTV doesn't get any money from cable operators. That's important because all this week and into next week, the CRTC is hearing arguments on how community-based television should be funded. As part of their operating licenses, cable companies collect money from subscribers that must then be spent on Canadian content.

Typically, about 100-million-dollars a year goes to run the community channels they operate. But an independent community station such as CFTV doesn't see any of that money. And Tony Vidal believes that's part of the point.

Tony Vidal runs CFTV, the community TV station in Leamington, Ontario.

Community Television - Cathy Edwards

This week and into next week, the CRTC is hearing arguments about who should operate community television stations and who should pay. Critics of the cable company model are rallying support for alternatives. They say cable operators aren't taking their role as providers of community television seriously.

Cathy Edwards was the first presenter at the CRTC hearings this week. She's the spokesperson for the Canadian Association for Community Television Users and Stations, known as CACTUS. And Colette Watson is the Vice-President of Rogers TV, the arm of Rogers cable that manages community programming. They were both in Ottawa.

PART THREE

Shirin Ebadi

For several months now, pretty much all the talk about Iran has revolved around that country's alleged nuclear ambitions. It's easy to understand why. But for Shirin Ebadi, it's also a bit frustrating. She is an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist. She won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting democracy and human rights in Iran.

The Iranian Government responded by confiscating her Nobel Prize medal, banning her autobiography, freezing her bank accounts and issuing not-so-veiled threats. As her country prepared to go to the polls this summer, Doctor Ebadi concluded it was no longer safe for her to stay. So she went into exile in the United Kingdom.

But Shirin Ebadi's work has continued and last week, there was a victory. Iran, which had been lobbying for a seat on the United Nations' Human Rights Council, withdrew its bid. This week, Shirin Ebadi was in Canada on a speaking tour and she came into our Ottawa studio. We aired our conversation with translation.

Last Word - Tom Green

We gave the last word this morning to a comedian who got his start on community television in Canada ... something we touched on earlier in our discussion about who should fund and run community TV stations. Tom Green kicked off his career in 1994 on Rogers TV in Ottawa.