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Speech
Opening remarks
by Andrée Wylie
Vice-Chairperson, Broadcasting
Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission
to the public hearing on the Applications of
Television Northern Canada Incorporated (TVNC) and
Bell Satellite Services Incorporated (BSSI)
Hull, Quebec
November 12, 1998
(CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the hearing on
the applications by Television Northern Canada Incorporated or TVNC and Bell Satellite
Services Incorporated or BSSI.
My name is Andrée Wylie. I am the Vice-Chair of Broadcasting for the CRTC, and I will
be presiding over this hearing.
Allow me, please, to introduce my colleagues and fellow commissioners, Andrew Cardozo
and Joan Pennefather.
TVNC to be broadcast nationally?
TVNC, Canada’s only aboriginal television programming network, has applied for
national distribution of an aboriginal television programming service. TVNC has said that
national distribution of this service, to be called Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
or APTN, would achieve a number of the Broadcasting Act’s goals including
that:
- The Canadian broadcasting system should serve the diverse needs and interests, as well
as the special place of aboriginal peoples within Canada; and
- The system should provide "through its programming, a public service, essential to
the maintenance and enhancement of national identity, and cultural sovereignty."
This application is for a conventional television network licence. In it, TVNC states
that APTN would provide a first level of service for Canada’s diverse aboriginal
population, like that originally provided to Canadians by CBC/Radio-Canada when radio and
television were first introduced.
TVNC proposes that APTN would broadcast programs in English and French, as well as in
Aboriginal languages. Programming would be directed to aboriginal and non-aboriginal
people in both the north and south of Canada. At present, the TVNC Network is only
available to viewers in the north of Canada.
This application stems partly from the commission’s public hearing last November
on the appropriateness of licensing a third national network. In that proceeding, TVNC
emphasized the need for a national service that would meet the demands of aboriginal
people across the country.
The Commission has long recognized that TVNC plays a unique and important role in the
Canadian broadcasting system as a non-profit, largely publicly funded aboriginal service
in the public interest.
In its report to the government on the issue of a third national network, the
Commission said that it would consider any application to make TVNC widely available
throughout Canada to meet the needs of Canada’s various aboriginal communities as
well as the needs of other Canadians.
This hearing will consider issues related to the appropriate licensing framework for
APTN including its request for mandatory distribution, its programming plans, its
financing and marketing plans, and the impact of the application on Canadian consumers.
Bell Satellite Services Incorporated Application
In addition to the APTN application, we will also consider an application by Bell
Satellite Services Incorporated or BSSI. BSSI has applied for a licence to operate two
separate Pay-per-view services, an English and a French language service. The proposed
services would be an integral part of the Direct-to-home service offered by BSSI.
BSSI also asks that it be permitted to offer up to ten percent of its programming on
the English service in languages other than English and French. In its application, BSSI
states that it wants to distinguish its service by offering increased children’s and
multicultural programming.
The Commission will examine a number of issues and concerns related to BSSI’s
application. In particular, issues relating to satellite capacity and the impact of
licensing on consumers and existing competitors.
Housekeeping
I’ll now go on to the administrative and housekeeping matters regarding the
conduct of this hearing.
Over these two days, the Commission will hear a number of oral presentations by
interested parties. In addition, written submissions have been filed with the CRTC and
will form part of the public record.
The proceedings will be transcribed and filed on the public record. In order that the
people responsible for the recording of the transcripts can provide an accurate record, I
would ask that, when you speak, you press on the small red button on the microphone in
front of you. This will activate the microphone, and be indicated by a red light. As well,
when you are not speaking, please ensure that the microphone is off, otherwise this may
cause interference.
CTRC staff who will be assisting us during these hearings are our legal counsel, Geoff
Batstone, policy co-ordinators, Dylan Jones for BSSI and Morag York for TVNC, hearing
manager, Mike Burnside, and the hearing secretary, Diane Santerre. Please don’t
hesitate to call on her regarding matters of process.
This hearing will run for two days. We’ll sit until approximately 5:00 p.m.
today. Tomorrow we’ll start at 9:00 a.m. and sit until we finish.
Thank you.
Madame Secretary…
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Contact: Denis Carmel, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Tel.: (819) 997-9403, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 997-4245
e-mail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca
Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)
This document is available in alternative format upon request.
Version française
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