Our national broadcaster has forgotten what matters most is what draws us together

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

I have a Christmas confession: there’s something I love about the CBC.

To some National Post readers, this might seem like the equivalent of saying Al-Qaeda had a few good ideas. But hear me out. At this festive time of the year — in the spirit of peace and love — let me make the case for why one specific program that used to air on CBC Radio deserves our affection.

I’m talking about Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Café that ran from the mid-1990s through to 2015. It was an homage to old-school radio variety shows of the 1930s and 40s — a hodge-podge of music and stories that, year after year, increasingly centred on the fictional world of one Toronto family.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

The stories featured Dave and Morley and their two children Sam and Stephanie. Dave ran a record shop called The Vinyl Café with the motto: “We may not be big, but we’re small.” Dave was the whimsical, kind-hearted father figure who couldn’t help but get himself into the most incongruous and disaster-prone scenarios. Over the years, we met their neighbours and friends who were a cast of the kinds of Canadians we could recognize in our own lives — from Kenny Wong who owned the neighbourhood restaurant “Wong’s Scottish Meat Pies” to the Martha Stewart-like neighbour Mary Turlington.

McLean rose to CBC fame on Peter Gzowski’s Morningside program and then slowly developed The Vinyl Café into the much-loved national institution that it became — touring the country........

© National Post