Who 'Technically' Did Not Fire The Province's Cartoonists?

TechnicallyWilliamZanzingerWasManagementToo

WholeLottaLevelsVille

Earlier today we linked to cartoonist Dan Murphy's video farewell to his colleagues at The (nolongerVancouver) Province.

So.

Why, exactly are Mr. Murphy and fellow pen-wielder Bob Krieger no longer drawing stuff for The Province? 

Well...

Here is what Mr. Murphy told those crazy kids at 'Deep Rogue Ram' recently:

Deep Rogue Ram: So Dan, what happened at The Province?

Dan Murphy: Management axed the cartoonist job classification. Which, technically, lets them say they didn’t fire the cartoonists, they just fired their jobs. Every time they do say that, though, they owe Joe Heller a royalty.

Deep Rogue Ram: To what degree do you think that decision is connected to the “Enbridge incident”?

Dan Murphy: I really don’t know. I didn’t endear myself to Province brass going public about the paper pulling a web parody at the behest of a powerful advertiser.

And (I) likely didn’t endear myself to the publisher when Dr. Robert Russell, with my endorsement, sent him a public letter to recount the responsibilities of a free press...

Now... 

At first I figured this was a cost-cutting thing coming from the managerial bean-counters at Postmedia corporate headquarters.

But then I noticed that there are still editorial comics in other Postmedia organs, including their other daily in town, the VSun.

So.

Does that mean that, perhaps, it was actually a local managerial decision to technically 'not' fire Murphy and Krieger?

And, if that's the case, does it not suggest that, maybe, this was NOT done to save money?

.