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News releaseNovember 6, 2001 CRTC to give Canadians access to House of Commons proceedings in official language of their choice OTTAWA-HULL — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) intends to make the televised proceedings of the House of Commons more accessible to Canadians in the official language of their choice. In the view of the Commission, this programming is vital to the public interest and an important part of the Canadian broadcast system. Thanks to the voluntary efforts and monetary contributions of the Canadian broadcast distribution industry, the Cable Public Affairs Channel or CPAC, which carries the House of Commons proceedings, is already available in the language of the majority, to 95% of cable subscribers and over 1 million direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers. The Commission is now codifying what the distributors are already doing and employing a little-used, but largely available technology to enhance service to Canadians in the language of the minority. Large, mid-size and direct-to-home distributors To improve access to the House of Commons proceedings, the CRTC will require, as of September 1, 2002, all large and mid-size (Class 1 and 2) cable distributors of television services to distribute the House of Commons proceedings in the language of the majority as part of their basic service. These distributors will also be required to offer these proceedings in the official language of the minority by using secondary audio program (SAP) technology, and, depending on their capacity and on the technology they use, on a separate video channel. DTH distributors will have to offer the service in both official languages using separate video channels. Smaller broadcast distributors (Class 3s) While the CRTC strongly encourages the distribution of the House of Commons proceedings by all Class 3 distributors, it recognizes the unique challenges faced by these operators. Many smaller Class 3 systems have limited channel capacity and funds. To deal with these circumstances the Commission has set out the following model for distribution of the House of Commons proceedings:
Reference document: Public Notice CRTC 2001-115 - 30 - Media Inquiries: General Inquiries: Copies of today’s documents are available through our Internet site (http://www.crtc.gc.ca) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request.
Date Modified: 2001-11-06 |
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