In September of 2012 Shaw Media announced that the very popular Canadian hunting TV shows Canada in the Rough, The Canadian Tradition and Angler & Hunter Television would be banned from all their associate networks across Canada, which includes Global TV.
The reason Shaw gave for the decision was a lack of popularity with the viewers.
That, however, was a poor excuse as the viewers of these shows numbered in the millions and the programs were gaining in popularity almost monthly.
The widely suspected reason was the constant badgering and petitions by animal rights activist groups against hunting on television.
For these animal rights groups the three Canadian hunting programs were counterproductive to their agenda of myth and deception and thus they wanted them gone.
The hunting shows in question are not your typical “kill and tell” shows that you often see on subscription television channels.
These programs emphasized the wildlife and habitat conservation aspects of hunting which is why they were becoming popular even with the non-hunting crowd.
Each show would typically highlight one or two of the many hunter-founded organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the BC Wild Sheep Association, to mention a few.
The viewing public was learning about these noteworthy organizations that, combined, spend millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours in the conservation and rehabilitation of wildlife and habitat.
Ordinary people, who, up until the airing of these shows, often only had the animal rights view of hunting were beginning to understand that hunters are not the barbaric uncaring bambi-killers as so often depicted.
This new awareness — brought about by quality hunting programs — began to call the true motivation of radical animal rights organizations into question.
The hunting community wasn’t about to take the ban on these shows lying down.
Thousands of emails flooded the Shaw Media inbox and a petition to bring the shows back had almost a million signatures.
Shaw Media responded by bringing the program Canada in the Rough back, but at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. on Sunday.
Still this did not deter the loyal viewers, as perhaps was anticipated by the television programmers.
Now, three years later, we are seeing another assault on Canada in the Rough.
The show’s producers received notice from Shaw Media stating that they would not sell them any more airtime.
A Canadian show that is aired in America and in over 27 other countries is now banned from its native country.
Shaw Media’s reason for refusing to sell airtime was that it considered the show as a promoter of firearms and hunting which it considers to be politically incorrect.
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) backed that decision of Shaw Media and simultaneously announced that they had dropped the Canadian content requirement for television stations to operate in Canada, especially hunting shows because they depict violence.
This is the same CRTC that seems to have no problems with a show like “Criminal Minds” where every episode a twisted villain is depicted killing or torturing people in as many gruesome ways that can be imagined; usually in slow motion and in close up detail.
It is only one show of many that depict horrendous amounts of despicable violence against humans that the CRTC finds acceptable.
Millions of men, women and youth — as law-abiding, ethical and responsible stewards of wildlife and nature — partake in hunting.
Hunting is a time-honoured tradition that is protected by the laws of Canada.
We really have to wonder how far this liberal political correct nonsense will be taken where the message seems to be that it is okay to show movies and television series competing with each other in the most obscene display of violence against people, but taking part in the oldest traditions of hunting and providing your family with natural meat for the dinner table is somehow construed as a politically incorrect promotion of violence.
