Jerusalem, Israel -- While travelling together in Israel as part of the Christian Ambassadors to Israel mission, 20 prominent Canadian leaders vow to fight Canada’s censor board that has pressured CTS Television to remove Word TV from the air “permanently”.
In December, the CRTC, through their Canadian Broadcast Standards Council began to censor Charles McVety and his television broadcast Word TV for unapproved political speech. Fearing the heavy hand of the CRTC the new corporate leadership at CTS bowed to the censors, rejected three subsequent Word TV programs for frivolous reasons and then publicly announced that CTS will no longer air the program.
Dr. McVety says “I don’t know how they want me to talk. I thought I lived in a free democratic country and that political censorship was reserved for totalitarian regimes. The first thing a dictator like Hugo Chavez does is silence voices of opposition. Iran, Cuba, North Korea and other despotic regimes all move swiftly to suppress voices of dissent. Canada criticizes China heavily for human rights violations of denying free speech while Canada practices heavy handed political censorship. I am not suggesting Canada is moving toward fascism, but toward total control of the education of our children. No country on earth confuses its children as young as eight-years-old with “gender identity” teaching.”
For years this Orwellian Council has attacked other Christian leaders such as James Dobson, John Hagee, Jack Van Impe, James Robison and many more however this is the first time their acts of censorship have forced a Canadian Christian leader from the air.
Dr. Frank Dimant, CEO of Bnai Brith Canada, who is also in Israel stated “The Canadian Jewish Community will rally behind Dr. McVety, the leading friendly Christian voice in our country, a clarion voice for support of Israel and the Jewish people. Jewish voices will be heard in opposition to this grave injustice by CTS and Canada’s censor board”.
Other prominent Canadian Christian broadcasters are upset.
Rev. Peter Marshall, Victory International Ministrie says, the censoring of Dr. Charles McVety unfortunately reveals that there are individuals and groups within our nation who are committed to removing our liberties and silencing the voices of those who may appose their philosophical, political, social and religious views. This is something we cannot tolerate or accept. Action must be taken in order to preserve the freedoms that we have always enjoyed as a nation.
Dr. Pat Francis says “Tried in secret, verdict decided without an appeal process is foreign to our Canadian Society. For this to be allowed to stand as is, would be against our Canadian Democratic values and heritage as a “tolerant” society.
McVety says “This is an attack on all Christians and we will fight to defend our basic human rights afforded to us by Canada’s Charter that guarantees (a) freedom of conscience and religion;(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression,
including freedom of the press and other media of communication”.
As leaders representing hundreds of thousands of Canadians, we believe the actions of CRTC, CBSC and CTS contravene the Broadcast Act and are unconstitutional. Together we call on the CRTC and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to uphold our basic human rights and to cease and desist all actions of political censorship.
Dr. Charles McVety, 416-456-0096
Dr. frank Dimant 011-972-52-747-8690
Rev. Peter Marshall 905-549-0981
Dr. Pat Francis 905-566-1084
