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July 3, 2009 The Archdiocese has received the following information from Abbot Peter Novekoski, OSB and we are passing it on to you for your information and your consideration of any action that you may be willing to take to help preserve this valuable resource for our Catholic people that is the Prairie Messenger. The Prairie Messenger received a surprise announcement this past week. We will no longer receive a postal subsidy for the Prairie Messenger. This will hurt us - and you - big time. The federal Publications Assistance Program (PAP) is administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Its stated mandate is to offset "the mailing costs of Canadian content magazines and non-daily newspapers mailed within Canada. The program enables Canadians in every part of Canada to have access to magazines and non-daily newspapers from across the country." Most community newspapers in Canada benefit from this program. Subscribers benefit by paying a lower subscription fee. The PAP program last year saved Prairie Messenger subscribers about $100,000. This subsidy is now cut off and we'll have to look at alternatives. To offset these mailing costs would add approximately $15 to the PM's subscription price. In each issue of the Prairie Messenger, on the bottom of the second last page, we acknowledge the financial support of the federal government through the PAP program. The letter we received from PAP told us that, effective July 8, 2009, our PAP registration number will be deactivated. That's not much time. The subsidy ceases after this issue. The point of contention between PAP and Canadian Catholic newspapers is that PAP regulations require eligible newspapers to contain "an average of at least 80 per cent of Canadian editorial content. . . ." The Catholic editors, through our co-operative Canadian Catholic News (CCN) organization, have argued in the past that Catholic newspapers should be exempt from a strict interpretation of this 80 per cent rule. Our diocesan churches are part of a worldwide family, and we want to cover significant events in the rest of our family. We are also increasingly living in a global world - a global village - and we should be giving readers more, not less, information about what is happening to our less fortunate brothers and sisters around the world. The Prairie Messenger has always prided itself in covering not only local and national church events, but also international events. Our readers have appreciated this larger global vision. Now, we are being asked to reconsider. Catholic papers have always been aware of the 80 per cent Canadian content rule. But our CCN executive had argued with PAP that, because of the nature of our "family," we should be exempt from this rule. We were given repeated verbal assurances by PAP that Catholic papers would not be strictly bound by the rule. So we lived with a measure of peace. CCN should have insisted on getting that agreement in writing. The PAP staff members who gave us assurances in the past are no longer there. No written documentation means no commitment by PAP, we are told. The new rule applies retroactively. No period of grace is offered to meet the Canadian content rule. No exemption to meet the wider interests of our readers. The rule is the rule. We are dismayed at the breach of trust that this sudden imposition represents. The PM will, of course, see what it can do to change PAP's mind. Readers who want to become more informed can visit the PAP website. Comments can be emailed to: pap@pch.gc.ca. Reference can be made to our PAP registration No. 9541. We appreciate any advice or help we receive. PWN |
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