Speech
Notes for an address
by Martine Vallee
Director of English Pay, Specialty and Social Policy
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
to the Standing Committee on Health on Childhood Obesity
Ottawa, Ontario
October 19, 2006
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Good afternoon. My name is Martine Vallee. I am Director of English Pay, Specialty and Social Policy at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). I am here today with Denis Carmel, Director, Public Affairs, Scott Hutton, Associate Executive Director, Broadcasting and Jane Britten, Manager, Social Policy, Broadcasting.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to talk about the Commission’s activities that may be relevant to the topic of childhood obesity and its potential relationship to the broadcast media.
The CRTC is an independent public authority that oversees the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in Canada. The Commission’s mandate, as outlined in the Broadcasting Act, is to regulate and supervise Canada’s broadcasting system in a manner that contributes to the cultural, social and economic objectives set out in the legislation.
The Commission is sensitive to the role that broadcasting, and television in particular, plays in transmitting and influencing social values. Some of our concerns include the impact of violent content on children, the portrayal of minority groups or the broadcast of hatred or contempt, to name a few.
The Commission’s involvement in social policy areas like these takes into account a variety of objectives of the Broadcasting Act. The Act states, among other things, that programming should be of high standard, respectful of equality rights, and reflective of Canadian values, as well as contribute to Canada’s social, economic and cultural fabric. The Act also affirms that in pursuing these objectives, the Commission must respect freedom of expression as upheld by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and must not engage in censorship or intervene in the day-to-day programming decisions made by licensees.
The Commission oversees a number of social issues pertaining to broadcasting. Our activities in this area fall into three broad categories: increasing access to the broadcast system by persons with disabilities; improving the social integration of marginalized groups; and ensuring that content respects community standards.
The Commission becomes involved in areas of broad societal concern when such issues are brought to our attention by concerned citizens and when further investigation indicates that we have a role to play. Issues come to us in a number of ways – through the complaints process, through interventions at licence renewals or policy proceedings, or through other representations to the Commission by concerned individuals or groups. Our role can be far-reaching or peripheral. The extent of our involvement depends on how direct a relationship broadcast content has with the issue at hand. We also take into account what, if anything, the broadcast industry is already doing to address the concern.
The Commission relies to a great extent on self-regulation to address social policy concerns. This self-regulation most often consists of industry-developed initiatives and broadcast codes that set out content standards and appropriate broadcast conduct. Our experience is that putting the onus on the industry itself to come up with initiatives and solutions increases understanding of the issue at hand and tends to result in greater acceptance and buy-in by the industry. We note that Concerned Children’s Advertisers, Media Awareness Network and Advertising Standards Canada, also appearing before your Committee today, represent examples of broadcasting industry partnerships engaging in initiatives to address concerns relating to broadcast advertising and children.
The Commission is very often involved in the development and enforcement of broadcast codes. Such codes play a critical role in setting out industry standards and specific guidelines for programming and advertising content. Broadcasters adhere to a variety of codes, addressing areas such as gender portrayal, ethics, violence on television and advertising to children. Through these codes, broadcasters commit to respect the interests and sensitivities of the people they serve, while meeting their responsibility to preserve the industry’s creative, editorial and journalistic freedom. Broadcasting codes are developed by the industry, sometimes at the request of the Commission and, at other times, they are initiated by the industry itself.
The Commission requires broadcasters to adhere to two industry codes regarding advertising content – The Code for Broadcast Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages and The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children. Both codes address the potentially negative social effects of advertising on children. Of particular interest to your study is The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children. It recognizes the special characteristics of the child audience – particularly the vulnerability and impressionability of children – and establishes specific criteria about what can and cannot be communicated or depicted in children’s broadcast advertising.
Among other things, the Code prohibits the use of puppets, persons, and characters well-known to children or featured on children’s programs to endorse or personally promote products, premiums or services. It also contains clauses to ensure that children are not unduly pressured to buy, or have their parents buy, particular products. The Code also sets out clauses limiting the scheduling of commercial messages during children’s programs. It further states that “Children’s advertising must not encourage or portray a range of values that are inconsistent with the moral, ethical or legal standards of contemporary Canadian society.” Advertising Standards Canada has recently set out an interpretation guideline pertaining to this clause that addresses food product advertising to children.
The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children was created in 1971 by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Advertising Foundation (now Advertising Standards Canada). While adherence to the Code was initially voluntary, the Commission has required broadcasters to adhere to the Code as a condition of licence since 1974.
Advertising Standards Canada plays a major role in the administration of the code in that all advertising to children must be reviewed and pre-cleared by ASC before broadcast. The review committee is made up of members of the advertising industry, the CBC, private broadcasters and public representatives. I will leave it to ASC to relate their activities and experience in this area to you.
Thank you for your attention. We would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
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Date Modified: 2006-10-19
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