Why are governments or government agencies giving weight to single complaints nowadays?

Here is a letter I sent to my Member of Parliament, Paul Dewar, after reading this article in the Ottawa Sun yesterday (http://www.ottawasun.com/news/canada/2011/01/13/16877796.html) - I do not support or condone the use of any word or expression now deemed politically incorrect or "insensitive", but recent stories about re-writing literary classics to "sanitize" them and today's story about this classic rock tune is taking things to a level I fear is going way too far. Here's the letter:

Dear Mr. Dewar,

It seems that as every year goes by, Canadian society is getting more and more out of hand and government is helping it along. The news yesterday about the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council banning the play of the 25 year old "Money for Nothing" song by Dire Straits is incredible. How one single individual can have the power to make a complaint that results in such serious consequences borders on ridiculous. More and more revisionists would prefer to re-write history and pretend that bad things never happened. We cannot selectively teach the 'good things' that made Canada the country it is today, nor should we ignore the darker side of history. The totality of it all has worked over centuries to build the homeland in which we currently live.

For twenty-five years, I believe, radio stations from coast to coast have played the above-mentioned song. An Ottawa Sun article characterizes it as being a "staple of rock radio". One person makes a complaint based on one word and the Council can then essentially ban its airing and presumably sanction radio stations who play it? One single person should not have that power. Sure, the Council should file the complaint for future reference, but one complaint from one person out of the entire Canadian population should carry no significant weight.

The action of the CBSC risks setting a precedent that could encourage others to sift through decades worth of songs and have them picked off one by one, creating a list of 'non-desireable or politically incorrect' works to be banned. Why should one person be given that power? One cannot argue that it is not just "one person", as the CBSC allegedly works in the best interests of all, but as it clearly works on a reactive basis, investigating complaints even when made solely by one person, that power is effectively being given to individuals by the CBSC.

Like it or not, society changes over time. That does not mean that history should be whitewashed, altered or be made to disappear.

Please stand up as a leader and denounce the actions of the CBSC and please work towards establishing some sort of reasonable guidelines that will assist them in further reviews as more will inevitably be requested as a direct consequence of yesterday's news.

Thank you.

While I would expect Mr. Dewar to support the sentiment of the complainant based in the ideals his party likely hold, I hope that he will take a moment to consider and give the same amount of weight to my concerns/complaint as he would give to the complainant who ultimately convinced the CBSC to issue the ruling it just released. We'll see!