Petition supports Manitoba's only French newspaper

More than 3,000 Canadians have signed a petition asking Heritage Minister James Moore to restore a subsidy for Manitoba's only French-language newspaper.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair tabled the petition in the House of Commons Wednesday. It calls on Moore to correct a new formula for the Canadian Periodical Fund, which inadvertently reduces the subsidy La Liberté receives by $50,000 to $60,000 a year.
The Old St. Boniface Residents' Association collected the signatures over the last two weeks.
The issue has arisen because Ottawa decided in 2010 to replace the old Publications Assistance Program with the Canadian Periodical Fund. The program helps magazines and non-daily newspapers.
The new formula bases the subsidy on total subscriptions while the old one based it on the number sent by mail.
La Liberté sends the vast majority of its 6,000 subscriptions through Canada Post.
In 2009, the last year of the PAP, La Liberté received $110,000. In 2011, during the transition period to the CPF, the paper received $120,000. This year it will receive $100,000 and in 2013 it will drop to $60,000.