CHPC Committee Report

To begin, the Bloc Québécois would like to thank all the individuals and groups in Quebec and Canada who appeared before the Committee with respect to the Canadian Television Fund.

The Bloc Québécois reiterates its support for the Canadian Television Funds and readily recognizes its significant contribution to the development of television in Quebec. In our opinion, claiming that everything is fine is presumptuous. The fact that some cable distributors refuse to make their payments is not the problem but rather a symptom of a problem and points to the need for a more in-depth study of the operation and governance of the fund.

While the Bloc Québécois does not disagree with the present report, in our opinion it barely touches on the issue and its recommendations are not applicable.

Appearing before the Standing Committee on Heritage, the Minister of Heritage stated that “I want to make it clear that this government recognizes that this is a critical time and a serious situation for Canadian television production.” ^[1]

She also noted that the CTF “put forward some proposals for possible changes to the structure and approach of the CTF model. This recognizes that any model or approach can be improved or updated, but these changes require input from all interested and affected parties, and public comment. For its part, the government has demonstrated its leadership, its support for the production sector, and its recognition of the situation.” ^[2]

The Chief Executive Officer of Shaw Communications Inc. was entirely correct in suggesting that we “disagree with the methods used to get attention,” as he noted before the Committee on February 20, 2007. That being said, we are perplexed by his statement that “the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the government have expressed their desire to deal with this lack of performance of the CTF, and both have engaged in consultation with us and others in the industry.”

In limiting itself to studying the crisis due to the delayed payments by Shaw Communications Inc. and Vidéotron, the Bloc Québécois believes that the Committee has sidestepped a larger issue, which it should have examined before concluding that everything is fine.

The issue of convergence which means that some cable distributors are now also broadcasters, the issue of the multiplication of platforms and the role of the CBC should have received greater attention in the present study.

As a result, this report is limited to a specific issue and will quickly become obsolete. It will not have any lasting effect.

In our opinion, the recommendation that the CRTC impose fines on the companies in question is inapplicable as stated because the CRTC does not currently have the power to impose administrative monetary penalties. The CRTC can only proceed through legal action in this matter.

This is why the Bloc Québécois recommends that the Broadcasting Act be amended to give the CRTC the power to impose administrative monetary penalties on companies that do not fulfill their obligations to the Canadian Television Fund.

Finally, the Bloc Québécois considers the objectives of the present report to be worthwhile and supports them but also sees a need for a more comprehensive study of the Canadian Television Fund. In this regard, rather than appeal to the CRTC with respect to the operation of a committee examining the Fund, the Committee should in our opinion have been proactive and launched such a study, with the desired transparency and public participation.