Part 3 in a series
By Hilary White
TORONTO, August 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite its self-promotion as a bastion of Canadian values of tolerance and diversity, Christians and others are increasingly accusing Toronto’s Vision TV, “Canada’s multifaith broadcaster,” of intolerance and even antagonism towards orthodox, traditional believers and conservative values. Its promotion of the homosexual movement’s political goals has been a fixture of the network since the mid-1990’s.
The network broadcasts 24 hours a day on cable and satellite, and can be seen in nearly eight million homes across the country. Its founders told the CRTC at a 1982 public hearing on religious broadcasting that they envisioned “a multifaith television network that would offer programs reflecting the spiritual lives of Canadians, in an atmosphere of respect for diversity and balance”.
Vision’s programming, history and past and current board members reveal, however, that the broadcaster’s stated dedication to confessional diversity has given way to an essentially secularist political position.
While various religious bodies were represented on Vision’s board in its first ten years, the political placement of the members has traditionally been firmly on the left of the spectrum.
In 1995, Vision’s board included Roman Catholic bishop John Sherlock, then known in Catholic circles for his “liberal” approach to Catholicism and support for feminist causes; Walter Pittman, a former Ontario NDP party leader; and Professor Irving Abella, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the husband of Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella who has been instrumental in bringing forward various feminist and homosexual causes through the courts.
While Irving Abella continues to serve, Vision’s current board members appear to have even less to do with religious faith. They include Dr. Gordon McIvor, who joined the Board of Directors of Vision TV in 2002 and was recently named to the position of Chair of the Vision Television Foundation.
McIvor is a businessman and a major figure in the internationalist business and political scene. He is president of the Couchiching Institute, a secularist think tank that has an annual conference to discuss the meaning of nationhood, citizenship and globalism and the new supra-national, borderless world order.
The Couchiching Institute became widely known to pro-life advocates when it gave its 2005 award for Public Policy Leadership to Canada’s most notorious abortionist, Dr. Henry Morgentaler.
Other recent Vision board members include Jonathan Goldbloom, a long-time Liberal party organizer and the Vice-President and General Manager of Optimum Public Relations in Montreal and Susan Millican, a journalist and chief executive officer of the Winnipeg-based National Screen Institute.
While Vice-President of Programming of The Women’s Television Network Millican lauded the often vulgar, pro-abortion, pro-gay Canadian public sex-talk star Sue Johanson, calling her “a vital member of our nation’s conscience”. Millican went on to state that Johanson, “has earned the respect and admiration of us all with her wisdom, kindness of heart and true pioneering spirit.”
Vision’s promotion of the homosexual political movement dates at least to 1995 when the network was in a dispute over programming by US televangelist Jerry Falwell after he publicly criticised the Liberal government’s intention to legalise “gay marriage” saying it would undermine the family. In a letter to Ron Kidd, an Ottawa-based homosexual activist, then-president of Vision, Fil Fraser, said that Vision’s code of ethics needed to be “revised” to accommodate homosexual ideological sensibilities, a move intended to bar conservative Christian opinion from receiving a voice.
Hired in 1995, Fraser revised Vision’s code of ethics to reflect what he called “recent developments in law” and “evolving standards” of public policy. Fraser had served for three years as Chief Commissioner of the Alberta Human Rights Commission on which he was known for his strongly pro-homosexual sympathies.
In the same year, Vision TV agreed to give free airtime to the homosexual Metropolitan Community Church, a major activist organisation instrumental in having “gay marriage” imposed on Canadians, for six half-hour programs, for which Vision paid $30,000.
Promotion of the homosexual political cause also included Vision’s acquisition from Rogers Cable of a weekly half-hour news magazine “Cable 10%”, specializing in homosexual news. This was incorporated into Vision’s own show, “Over the Fence,” an anthology of community access programming. This brought national exposure to Cable 10%, a show which had previously only been seen on Rogers Cable.
Vision’s effectiveness in watering down the meaning of religious belief has been matched by its success in stopping specifically Christian programming from airing in Canada. Gwen Landolt, vice president of REAL Women of Canada told LifeSiteNews.com that when REAL Women was involved in attempts over the years to bring orthodox Christian programming to Canadian airwaves, the CRTC used Vision as an excuse to say no.
“They told us, ‘You’ve got Vision, and that takes in all religions. We don’t want the situation we see in the States where Christians such as Jerry Falwell receive a hearing,’” Landolt said.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
No Apologies from Vision TV for Years of Anti-Traditional Christian Programming
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072504.html
Vision TV Blasted for Jihadist Anti-Semitic Programs and “Relativism”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072407.html
Infamous Canadian Abortionist Henry Morgentaler Set to Receive Public Policy Leadership Award
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05080206.html