| Speech Opening remarks
by Charles Bélanger
Vice-Chairman, Broadcasting
Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission
at a round table post-launch meeting held at the CRTC
Hull, Quebec
November 24, 1997
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Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to all of you. I would like to
say a special thanks to you in accepting our invitation to participate in this
post-launch meeting. As you know, we have planned this informal "round table"
discussion in order to share our individual and collective experiences of the
fall launch.
First of all, I want to say that it is important to recognize the success of
the launch. I know it involved a massive effort by all parties to pull this
package together and to get it up and running. On behalf of the Commission, I
want to congratulate all of you.
But, as you know, some concerns have been raised, and some wrinkles remain to
be ironed out. We will have an opportunity today to get the latest updates on
some of these wrinkles, and we will also try to look ahead to other issues that
will need to be addressed.
We are all responsible partners in the system. The Commission is one element
of a three-way partnership comprised of the industry, the public at large and the
regulator. It sometimes falls upon the Commission to be the final referee in
matters of what will best serve the public interest. We are not here to manage
your businesses, but rather to gain a better understanding of the factors that
drive your business decisions. We all want the broadcasting system to work
efficiently and effectively, so as to better serve Canadians.
From the Commission's perspective, we have a responsibility to ensure that
public policy objectives and public interest goals are met. Sometimes, this may
appear as limiting consumers' choices. Perspective is important and for that
reason, transparency will be increasingly imperative, as we move to a more
competitive environment.
It is important to recognize that while competition is being introduced into
the broadcasting system, we're not fully there yet. We are in a period of
transition, which means we need continued flexibility – of regulations and their
oversight. We need to work closely, respecting transparency and each other's
confidences.
Our partnership is a real one. It is in the spirit of that partnership that
this post-launch meeting has been designed and that I will ask you to think about
an on-going consultation as we go through our discussions this morning.
It goes without saying that we are all scrambling to keep up with, and adapt
to, the dynamic changes affecting the communications industry. And it is not just
the technology that is creating pressures. It is also the competitive
environment, which is a fairly recent phenonomen. It involves competition among
distributors and competition among programmers. There are now 44 licensed
Canadian specialty services and 36 non-Canadian services on the eligible
satellite lists. Obviously, the economics of operating a successful business
means you have to adapt to these changes and try to anticipate what will happen
just around the corner.
Part of the reason for this meeting is to facilitate that adaptation, based on
the best possible understanding of the pressure points, and of what works well
and not-so-well, and what the divergent needs and objectives of the various
players are. These need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, we know there are
win-win solutions out there. We just have to find them.
Our goal is to establish a transparent framework which delivers on the policy
and public interest objectives of government, and which is also an enabling
framework for industry players.
Based on the discussions today, I am willing to set up a consultative
committee, perhaps a little smaller than our group here today. The objective
would be to move forward on some of the longer term issues. We will need more
background information and more understanding of each other's needs and
objectives before we can arrive at those elusive win-win solutions.
This might include looking at the standing of "dual status"; the question of
distributor equity in programming services; the future of the Group B services
that have not yet been launched; and, some guidelines for a co-operative
framework that will benefit all parties concerned. I offer that now so we can use
our time to best advantage, knowing there are items which can be addressed later
on.
I am also proposing that there be a summary for the public record – not
verbatim transcripts, but a synopsis of facts and issues and any future actions
that may be agreed upon. Of course, we will circulate this synopsis for your
comments and input before we make it available for the public record. It would
then be placed on the CRTC website in both official languages.
Now, before we get started, does anyone have questions regarding the proposed
agenda that was sent to you?
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Contact: CRTC Communications Branch, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Tel.: (819) 997-0313, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 994-0218
This document is available in alternative format upon request.
Date Modified: 1997-11-24 |
