Rafe leaving the Frank Sinatra station is, I think, a disaster.

First I think station managers have made a grave miscalculation, as the so called book, is a very dated way of determining listenership. Example: I purchased some advertising on ck what ever it is, and the responce was "I herd it on the Rafe Mair show", not ck Frank Sinatra!

Secondly, the elites have won, for now, as they don't want a knowledgable Mair on the airwaves. The CORUS/Asper media dictaorship now controls modt of the media and the reporters that work for them tow the company line!

Friends of the media elite; the Liberals, Board of Trade, RAV, Bombardier, SNC/Lavalin, Larry Campbell, Fish Farmers, etc. can be rest assured that the spotlight of the media will never shine very brightly on them!

Rafe, come back, we need you!

At this volatile time, with the possible build-up to B.C.'s general strike, you were considered too much of a loose cannon, perhaps.

I know the feeling, having been considered such, and often gagged, by many talk show moderators and their producers.

Whether one agreed with him or not, the loss of the crude Pat Burns was the loss of a jewel and true champion of free speech on talk radio.

"Go ahead, Doll. You're on air."

Permit me to add my comments about this act of media bullyism. My condolances to Rafe...

What a cowardly act by 600 AM. Aanother step in the long line of steps being taken to muzzle dissent, squash opinions and ultimately, kill free speech altogether. In the US this would be less surprising. But Canada is well known around the world as a beacon of social demoncracy and freedom of expression. This latest firing will form part of its death knell unless it is reversed.

I would like to propose five minutes of silence across the Province to recognize this ignominy...

Just listen to the silence about these little tidbits…

INAC sets terms for a contract that include “No written records”

OTTAWA (CP) - Federal officials are under fire for a $132,000 contract signed with an outside consultant that specifies the firm must leave no paper trail in government offices.

The deal Indian and Northern Affairs Canada signed with Ottawa-based Totem Hill Inc. explicitly states that "presentations shall be oral with supporting material provided to aid comprehension but not retained by the department."

The February 2005 contract ensures there are no documents in office filing cabinets that auditors can later verify and citizens can consult through requests under the Access to Information Act.

Canadian Firearm Centre announces:
A $273,169,216 contract for a computer system, although when it first came out was only worth about $24,000 when it was initially given out back in 2003. Since then it has been amended four times and has ballooned in value by more than 11,000 times. 2 billion and counting, well we would if the costs where not a cabinet secret.

Remember when they promised to cut spending on this program…..

This is why we need Sh*t disturbers, they are an “essential service” in a democracy.

We need your voice more than ever, Rafe. I know you wil be back on air asap. In the interim, could you explore 'podcasting' as an alternative way to get your voice out?

i have to admit, when rafe was at nw, i hated him.
but he was what made nw. just as pat burns drew listeners to his crude style, then the incomparable webster, rafe's controversial style made people think.
now the media barons want to tell us what we think, and they do not want our thoughts confused by facts.
this is another twist in the noose choking the rights of freedom.

Rafe talks of self-censorship. I could not agree with him more. There is no clearer evidence of this than recent reports in one of our major dailies.

I felt the decision to deport an East Indian youth was immoral given that much of his character, that led to the accidental death involving road-racing, was formed in this country by his peers, consumerism, and ads glamorizing vehicle power and speed etc.

Very many letters called for his deportation. Just a few felt that while a severe penalty was required, deportation was unjust.

Contrast that report with one headlined later regarding a person's theft of over one thousand cars.

Could such occur if many in law enforcement were not sitting on their hands? Was it, perhaps, bureaucracy-building? Was it, perhaps, waiting for that highly-marketable video-clip, shown world-wide, of the theft of a bait-car?

Was there not a potential for death in the stealing of over a thousand cars? What other criminals had to be involved? What of the effects on our vehicle insurance premiums? I've just scratched the surface of general concerns.

In contrasting the two cases, even admitting to evident racism, without one letter commenting on a vehicle crime involving millions of dollars, self-censorship has to be at play. This is where talk radio can, and should, play a vital role.

Rafe

Good on you. Hope to see (hear) you soon back on the airwaves. I almost expect to hear you refer to "Those in the Eastern Media Mafia".

Given that Rafe's boss is someone who laments the passing of the "Full Nanaimo" , we shouldn't be surprised that he's gone. Horrified maybe; sad, certainly - just maybe not surprised.

With a Federal election coming in the next few months it was probably deemed wise to try and shut Rafe up before he got up a head of steam. Problem is, he refuses to back either the Libs or Conservatives. Go figure. I guess we'll have to rely on the hard-nosed probing of Bill Good to bring us the issues and personalities.

Rafe: There's one more thing you can do for British Columbia and for Canada. Perhaps your being unemployed and independent offers you the ideal platform from which to speak on this subject.

Please advise how we can address the issue of CanWest Global holding ownership of almost every news service in the country, especially in British Columbia. And being willing to construct a particular political slant in each one of them.

Everything you say about the frightened, compliant journalists who seem to be hired by Central Casting, is understood by most of us. We do what we can but, on an individual basis, it's water off the CanWest duck's back.

You worry, too. Do you see a vital, longterm answer to this bottleneck?

Damm it Rafe, will you quit doing that!

Seriously, podcasting sounds interesting.
Is there a big enough market?
If there's not going to be any morning radio, you might be able to get a good audience that way since we could also listen to the show at night. Beats the hell out of having to listen to Bill Marshmellow!

Rafe:

Perhaps a daily Salmon Farming podcast would be good. I'm sure there's a huge, paying market in that alone.

Rafe, I heard a fellow once who said his mother used to say when these types of things happened, 'God is redirecting you'.

We live in very troubling times.

Canwest will eventually have to sell their holdings as people don't bother listening etc. Even CNN is starting to get 'real' again.

Best wishes, Rafe.

Bill Marhmellow buckled under CORUS management years ago. Now he sings the corporate song - be good to big advertises like TransLink, BC Liberlas, etc.

Notice the infomercials on NW, that outfit will shill anything, including the Premiers brother!

BC will miss Rafe and the better it will be, when he comes back ob air.

Rafe, perhaps CBC? I know it sounds zany, but hey....it could work.

Eureka!

Not enough people were O D-ing on addicted salmon and aspertame, Rafe.

Bummer Rafe
I used to be a regular on line #9 from Salt Spring when you were on NW and despite our differing opinions you always gave me a pretty good kick at the can. A lot better than that, Bill (not so) Good and Pat Burns (my ass). I know you'll pop up again somewhere. Soon. And I'm looking forward to it.

Damn it I miss you, and it's only Monday, 10:45 AM. It was fun to find out whether I was going to agree or disagee with your morning rant. Oh, I don't deny that you'll be back in another form,----maybe satellite radio? wider coverage. This would terrify all your targets.

The middle of the road is where the white line is---and that's the worst place to drive.
Robert Frost

I'll be watching or listening for your return.

I'd suggest politics but why go back to that well.

So, what about NW? Till doesn't do it for me. In fact their whole lineup has the lames, except for Dan Russell.

Yes, they kicked your ass on the way out, but people unburn bridges all the time in media.

Free speech is far too important a value to abandon in order to support economic efficiencies in media ownership (surely one of the values that was argued in demolishing regulation of the media over the past couple of decades).
Although one must be careful of government interference in a 'free' public media, one must also be careful of near monopoly influence, a situation that we are all familiar with here in BC.
I believe it's time that governments, particularly Federal, began reregulating media by limiting monopoly ownership in regions and cross-medium ownership such as Canwest Global currently enjoys. Perhaps one of our opposition parties could make it a condition of supporting or abandoning support for a minority government?

I was very shocked and sorry to hear about your show's cancellation this morning on the air. I hope that you will resurface soon and come out guns blazing - we need your voice and your commitment to issues important to our lives in BC! Keep stirring the virtual pot here at the very least - please.
Hoping to hear your dulcet tones soon again...

Cancelled just as the a major strike comes along, hmmm.....

this explains why i didn't hear you this morning when i flipped on to get your take on
the day of defiance! Crap and other such words!! this only proves what i have always said...freedom of the press belongs to he who
owns the press. i was surprised old jimmy pattison let you on the air to start with!! i
totally agree with you. corporations have taken over the media and are censoring news
everywhere. the average person has no say in
what is being done to them and we all just sit
back and take it. for years i have been telling
people we need a revolution and a bloody one
before we can take back the freedom that was ours.

Guess my dial won't be landing on 600 again...

jamez, I love that idea! Rafe on CBC! Why, after just a few years on the CBC circuit, he'd be up for governor general and, once again, be representing a true minority: the shit disturber!

Pat Burns....now there is a memory. I listened to him as a teen and vividly remember the night he cracked-up on air. He was a real icon in his day.

Rafe is not gone. He will resurface somewhere.

Losing the best broadcaster since Jack Webster is a big blow. The ratings would have been higher if the station had just played music while Rafe was on vacation, and replaced the annoying theme tune.

Barbara Yaffe was fantastic, though something seems to have gone wrong a year or two ago.

I would like to see Rafe Mair do a TV special on fish farming.

Well, I'd never pegged Rafe Mair as a candidate for a column or article for The Tyee, but it certainly shows how our interests converge when a set of self-interested bullies runs the show.

Ben Meisner's another one I never expected to be turfed out, but Gordon Campbell doesn't return his calls any more. "He used to," quipped Meisner at last week's teachers' rally.

I don't know how the Liberals can continue to govern when they alienate EVERY constituency but one. After all, business has the money, but we have the votes!

In the months I have been reading the Tyee I have never seen an article that did not have a negative comment - until this one. Since I live in the 'heartlands', otherwise known as beyond Hope, I have never heard his radio show(s), but have followed his career since his time as a Kamloops MLA and Cabinet Minister, and read his recent book.

I wonder what has happened in this Province in the intervening years? It has been said that in a Democracy the voters get what they deserve. Do we really deserve our current government and media? Good luck Rafe and come back soon.

As much as I hope that Mr. Mair gets work, I have to wonder who is going to take over as the next "independent," think for himself/herself radio talkhost. Mr. Mair isn't going to live forever.

The Bill Goods of the world leave a lot to be desired. I have had enough of good, old Bill this week. It's no wonder that he couldn't graduate highschool with his friends; he isn't able to think his way through some of the easiest concepts relating to the teachers strike. It seems like anyone who gets a job on talk radio these days will do or say anything to keep their job.

The wild salmon have lost the voice of a true champion.

I hope you are back on the radio soon.

There are still a few muckrakers (e.g. Bob Carty on CBC Radio) and we ought to remember that Daniel Leblanc and others at the Globe and Mail started sniffing around the sponsorship scandal with Freedom Of Information Act requests more than a year before the Auditor General's report.

Regardless, and while I'm not a big fan, it's wrong that Rafe's not on the air.

Its really sad. One of my idols is off the air. Rafe you always did a good job and I know it was good because I had times when I agreed with you and there were times when I wanted to pick up the phone and give you my minus 2 cents worth. Take care Rafe and hope to you hear from you somewhere over the radio waves.

Rafe is getting a lot of love here, but I think he would agree that his right arm over at 600 am was his producer Shiral Tobin.

Raif, there is absolutely nothing to stop you from continuing to rant away as long as you wish right here on Tyee.

Pick yourself a nom-de-plum and have at it laddie.

"It has been said that in a Democracy the voters get what they deserve."

I think that's half-true. Non-voters are giving us governments we don't deserve.

Remember when Vancouver’s radio market leader was a principled operation with a vibrant newsroom of experienced professionals? Now we get white bread commentary, syndicated pap, Inquirer style titillation, dishonest infomercials and pointless discussion of professional sport. Can anyone be surprised that Rafe Mair is gone from the airwaves? He was an anachronism, the last member of a gang that is no more. Project the trends and imagine what radio will be in another decade. Even the timid inquirers like Bill Good will be gone.

Rafe - thank you for your many years of provocative and fearless broadcasting! I hope you find a station that appreciates your enormous talents and fearless curiosity.

Thanks also for your kind words on my own work - I am honoured and it has always been a pleasure to be on your shows.

Sincerely
Bill Tieleman
24 hours columnist, political commentator

I too, was thinking Rafe would work on CBC, either radio OR Televsion......

But Rafe what were you thinking, telling the truth and all of those facts.
My gawd man that’s not cheese.
Did ye not get the memo laddie?

We are supposed to be dumb asses quit clouding our heads with useful
Information. We do not stand for the likes of teachers here in the fiefdom.

Yes sirree this is the de facto land of pork and bananas and you proved it Rafe.
Thanx for doing your job and come back soon.

Well, Rafe, if you don't mind NOT being paid, but instead working for "Sweat Equity", we would love to have you "on-the-air" here at radiogay.ca with our "Western Canadian Perspective" broadcasting from our "Lower Shaughnessy Studios" here in Vancouver. I have always enjoyed your perspective...not always agreed with it...but that's the point. YOu would be a welcome addition to our UNGLUED team.
Golden Voice
aka Tim

Would like to hear from those in the business their opinions on whether or not it was significant that after firing him Mr. Mair's former employer's station manager wanted him to stay on at least through the end of the year (see S. Holman's interview at Public Eye).

Seems a little fishy there, as if there was some desire to ameliorate a non-business decision by holding onto the ratings for as long as possible.

For the record, some of us jocksniffers may have been late to the Eagleson story but we got there. Russ Conway is the American reporter whose perseverence broke the story. As he wrote in the Eagle-Tribune in 1998:

Roy McGregor in Ottawa, Jack Todd in Montreal, Tom Hawthorn in Vancouver, Kerry Banks in British Columbia were among the many reporters who trained their sharp pens on Eagleson.

Vancouver's Mike Beamish also had a handle on the bigger picture.

"Something tells us good ol' boy Eagleson is counting on an enormous home-ice advantage because, of course, in Canada complaints and allegations against him have gone unheeded," wrote Beamish. "After all, this is a country where there is justice for all. And, apparently, another justice for Al."[I]

If you're keeping score at home, among the locals that's one of us from the Province, one from the Georgia Straight and one from the Vancouver Sun.

Incidentally, the Eagle-Tribune is a family-owned newspaper published in the Greater Boston area.
eagletribune.com/news/stories/19980113/FP_001.htm

Tyee Radio perhaps!

What a thought!

Rafe
I was having a horrible day monday and it finally dawned on me why. That limp wristed drivel from Bill (not) Good was making the hairs on my neck straighten. I can't take this crap on the CanWest propaganda airwaves! Come back anyway you can Rafe and bring Shiral Tobin with you,she's great and as the crust of age settles on her she will be every bid as entertaining as you are.

It never has been for you, Rafe.

Maybe the station got tired of you disconnecting people who disagree with you.

Rafe: hated you as a politician. Loved you as a muckraking commentator. Man after my own heart. Sorry to see you go. There is a movement called IWT.com about independant world television I wonder if and when they are actually up and running they would be interested in Radio. I know you would be good there.

sd green Tyee radio is an excellent idea!

I've always liked Rafe, BUT, he seems to think
the world can't get along without him. I really think it's time for him to retire gracefully to some tropic isle....

It's been a good ride.

Rafe

Good luck you s.o.b., by the way what the hell is going on with NW hiring canned crap from Eastern Canada for the prime time afternoon talk show slot? I am of course referring to "Adler on line". Surely to God there is enough income being generated at that time of day that a person well informed on BC issues could have been contracted to do a BC specific show? I hope people vote with their ears and go to another station in droves.

Rafe we do need you , please keep up the pressure& give us the only truth avaiable to us. Last nights Global news almost made me puke&then on came Kevin Newmanwith the only inteligent remark I have heard, and I quote [ more or less ] . " Is it collective bargaining when one side can enact a law that turns the other side into criminals " Gordo has acted the same in all cases from the sale of our assets [ give aways ] & breaking contracts with H E U , seniors etc etc . Look out folks he has a hatered for working & old people, remember 1939 & the gas chambers HIEL GORDO Old Man

What always amazes me is how quickly the "string pullers" freak out when someone disturbs some shit, like Mr.Mair. When you think of it, even after all these years of Rafe on the air, have the power brokers really been threatened? It's as if they feel guilty when someone tells the truth and shows their hypocrisy, even if they know that it can't actually harm them. What it shows is that poli-ticians and corrupt business leaders are mostly cowards, their hold on wealth depending on manipulation and lies. But this has been going on for Centuries, so what's new?

Dear Rafe;
I hope you are reading the online kudo's presented. I have over the years listened to your ranting and ravings. Sometimes I agreed wholeheartedly and sometimes, well you know. I am saddened that your voice has once again been temporarily silenced (note I said temporarily). I expect that you will come bouncing back in some form or another. You know as well as those above have written, there needs to be a real voice out there extolling the real truths. Actually, the CBC idea or even a Tyee online call in format is not a bad idea.
Good luck to you.

Many thanx to all who have said so many kind thinbgs ... and to everyone else for that matter.
Two comments ... Shiral Tobin has indeed been an indispensable part of my show ,,, as to cutting people off the last reason would be because they disagree with me. I have always enjoyed those jousts the best.
I suspect the writer falls into one of the following categories
... abusive
... tiresomely long
... unlucky enough to run up against a break
... cut off because I mistakenly thought he was through
... was a regular caller who was a one trick pony we had to listen to every week

I am exploring many of the options suggested except the one that told me to go to hell!

God bless you all and you can see how I'm progressing once we finish updating my website, rafeonline.com next week

Tyee Radio: Couldn't be a better name for a radio station that had Rafe for its anchor! I've helped to put one together before and could do it again if there was any real interest in the project. Needless to say the hurdle is money. Money to purchase the equipment, money for the telephone lines, money to get the CRTC application together, money to rent a hotel room (which was where we located the equipment last time around.) Then Rafe and others would have to decide whether they wanted to do it as a hobby until the advertising revenue started coming in.

Without a doubt, there is a need to go up against Corus/Asper because, if we don't, you can kiss democracy goodbye in this country.

What say you, Rafe? Are ye game man? (By the way, I'm not sure if it still applies but when we were at it before, it would have been possible to eliminate the need for CRTC approval by locating the "station" just across the line.)

Adler - definitely addled. Thank God CBC is back!

I never heard Rafe on the 600 end of the dial, but his last year or so on NW was pathetic. I had enjoyed listening to his views for years, usually disagreeing with them, but appreciating the intelligence he brought to whatever the debate of the day was. But the last year was pure torture. He became a one-trick pony. Fish farms, fish farms, fish farms. I do not in any way try to minimize the debate on this contentious issue, but a full year of pretty much non-stop, very one sided coverage was too much to swallow.

Did he hasten his demise at 600 with the same type of journalism?

Raif
Bill 12 is an evil tool against the peoples rights, it has to be defeated!
I think BC is a testing ground for the biggest battle for our basic democratic rights to collective barganing, with teachers being the first test.
Raif if keep losing great people like you this great Country will and is becoming a Very corrupt place.
BC Libs Bassi Boys Drugs in Our Parliment Blg in Victoria, Why is this being hushed up? Me thinks organized crime.

I was upset to learn that you have parted company with 600AM. I live in the Kelowna area and had the pleasure of listening to your program on the delayed broadcast through CKOV630. Your energy, passion and search for what is right kept me informed and provided great insight into both sides of an arguement or debate. I look forward to a quick return to the airwaves. In the meantime two radio stations have lost my interest. It appears that some people "can't handle the truth!". Thanks Rafe.

While not always agreeing with Rafe, I admire his intelligence, dedication, and absolute refusal to pander to his audience or employer.

Too often radio talk-show hosts of "shock jocks" uncritically promote their guests, business interests, or personal beliefs. Rafe was one of the few to lob hardballs at someone from his own camp. He will be greatly missed.

sd green finally had a good idea, Tyee Rdio.Ineed what a thought!

How about an indepth investigation in whatever happened to NW. I am listening to Dan Russell now and there is another ad for "Insight For Living," a Xtian program from someone with the hysterically funny yet apt name "Chuck Swindle." LOL!

Well yes. there is little left to wedge into public attention. Like Medicare. On Saturday November 11 the vultures are having a conference at the Hotel Vancouver. That means the Fraser Institute, the insurance companies and their pals are meeting to pick the bones of our health system and privatize everything they can.
There is no Rafe around to take a good look at this event so you will need to be upstanding and come and join with the seniors of COSCO (Council of Senior Citizens Organizations) who are greeting the vultures with a demonstration. That is 9AM at the Hotel Vancouver. Come and help the seniors identify those who seek to destroy the best interest of Canadians.

I didnt listen to Rafe on 600 for a couple of reasons. For one thing this never ending tirade about salmon frankly got to be very boring. No doubt Rafe lead the pack in exposing some things on this issue that needed to be exposed. But often while Rome burned we hear never ending dialogue about our scaled friends. As well, frankly the whole feel of 600 am came off sounding rather shoddy. The lack of a professional sounding news room and air just felt a bit much. I believe Vancouver needs a return to the old days when CJOR and NW competed for a market. It was nice to choose on a frequent basis which station to listen to. And how we miss Webster before his departure to BCTV. Rafe there were times you lead the pack. And times you just seemed to be a bit carried away with ego and some issue that you just never seemed to move on to. HOwever, there can be no doubt you were a vital part of providing information to BC. Someone said he was better at this than politics. I disagree, as a Minster Rafe was tough, often wrong from my perspective, but always aproachable and cordial. Just please Rafe not the CBc.......

Yet another voice for the people, cut out of our so called free(dom of) speech.
Don't blink or we'll be next?
Hark: do I hear the sounds of chains.

Unbelieavable!

I will sorely miss Raif but I am going to remain hopeful that another radio station will pick him up. I can't imagine beginning my mornings without hearing some of his insightful (as well as off-the-wall) commentary. The CBC's The Current is ok but certainly lacking in critical treatment of the issues concerning BC.

As hopeful I am that Raif will show up somewhere - and soon - I am nonetheless fearful of the power of mainstream media in its capacity to foster and engender its particular representation of reality to the extent that it can easily eliminate dissenting and critical voices from its payroll. When discourse on particualr issues affecting us all is limited to what conveniently fits in with uncritical acceptance of all countours of the status quo we as a society are being deprived of a truly important component of a democratic social order: that political discouse be varied to the extent that our citizens are more adequately informed. As such, the practise (particularly by mainstream media) is to sugar-coat and present a view of reality more in line with its commercial interests. Therein lies the real
'democratic deficit'.

Some interesting ideas were presented here: Podcasting. radiogay.ca (had never heard of it before actually).

Tyee radio! or if not on the radio airwaves, how about Radio Tyee Online?

How about a TV-show on Shaw cable, broadcasting daily from the Shaw Tower? But Shaw is big corporation... don't know if they believe in free speech.

Maybe Rogers owned NEWS1130 needs a format change? Become more of a true competitor to CKNW, being more of a mix of news and talk radio. That would be too big of a change for that station though, which is branded to just giving the headlines, over and over again, quick sound bites that allow you to catch up on what’s going on without worrying about too much depth.

In the end, the idea of getting a new independent station up and on the air excites me. A new news-talk station, perhaps get a lot of the local commentators and hosts that have been “banned” from TV or radio or who have moved onto other things over the years.

How about a station with hosts like Rafe Mair, Vicki Gaberau (if you can get her out of her recent retirement – I think her TV-show recently ended), Moe Sihota, Pia Shandel (I thought her show Right-On and her political commentary on the NewVI was great and was sad to see her go – someone rescue her from the Oprahesque CFUN)? Some of the people that report for Georgia Straight, 24 Hours or Metro, the Tyee etc.? Maybe the various true independent media people could come together to try and start a new independent radio station?

Nevertheless, no matter where Rafe ends up, I loved being able to listen to Rafe everyday, even if it was only for 2 hours (I always wish it could have been more… if they can give Bill Good more time, why not Rafe?). And to those who say Rafe is a one note, I disagree – on issues like Fish Farms and Charlottetown, you need someone who is willing to keep making the points that need to be made, so that the ideas are not lost in the vast wasteland of soundbite media today. So much of our media and our lives are concentrated on the now – and tend to only look backwards (if only briefly), and seldom have the vision or the brains to venture into the area of how things will affect us tomorrow, not just in the short-term, but in the long-term.

I didn’t always agree with him, and why should I, but in the end, I'd follow Rafe wherever he goes, even if it was to the CBC.

- Steve Lee, student

Rafe- Move to Hornby Island . They are getting their own 5 watt FM radio station .... you'd have a captive audience.

Mr. Mair, perhaps this happened so that you could write this article, and then read all of the kind and wonderful things that so many people are saying about you.

You are an inspiration to me and to many others. What about your own talk show on Channel 4? I envision you on television, somehow.

P.S. I attended law school with a Miss D. Brodie ... and also a Mr. L. Asper. Now there's a pair for you!!!

Hey Rafe...I sure miss our mornings..cutting the B.C. B.S.I grew up in the N. OK. my family was NDP my Father's blood would BOIL when He talked of the Socreds... and you....but He would be proud of Your courage!!!This corp friendly govt. must GOOOOO