Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's very effective, especially in terms of children's programming. It was one of the first codes of its kind in the world that put very severe limitations on the depiction of violence in children's programming. I think it has played a major role. One of the things that sets this country apart is that its children's programming, by its very nature, is very non-violent.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm glad to participate, Mr. Chairman. If there's anything more I can provide, I'm at your disposal.

Canadian Heritage committee  In the past, we've done that as an industry. In the 1990s, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters undertook two major campaigns directed at speaking out against violence in our communities. There was a strong reaction to it, a very positive reaction. It was a partnership with Heritage Canada and a number of other government departments.

Canadian Heritage committee  You talked briefly about parents having to take a course in media literacy. It's not necessarily a course. There are places on various websites where there are little 10-point plans. It's simple: print it off, stick it on your refrigerator. Some of them are so simple. If there is a computer in the house, keep it in a place where parents can keep an eye on it.

Canadian Heritage committee  Rogers has done that in the past. They've been a good corporate citizen.

Canadian Heritage committee  Allow me to clarify: it wasn't my book. I wrote one chapter in a book that was published by somebody else. To respond to your question, no, we have not done any national surveys that I am aware of about the use of the V-chip in Canada. There have been some studies done in the States, funded by the Pew Research Center and the media, but there have not been any studies done since the encoding for the V-chip was introduced in 2001.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think it's worthwhile to do. I think an organization with the reputation of the Media Awareness Network would be a great place to start, but they would need financial support to make that happen. Perhaps the heritage department might wish to kick in, and perhaps Health Canada might wish to kick in.

Canadian Heritage committee  There is I think a monetary penalty that exists now, in the sense that broadcasters are required to adhere to the code as a condition of licence. If they are members of the Broadcast Standards Council, that condition of licence is suspended, but the way the Broadcast Standards Council works, if I remember my operational manual from when I sat on the Ontario regional council, is that if there are a number of infractions by a particular broadcaster—I think it's three—that membership can be revoked.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't think it destroys the station, because they still get their licence renewed, but it's for a very short period of time, and they have to go through the whole process again in order to come back after two years, whereas normally a licence is renewed for five or seven years.

Canadian Heritage committee  I believe so.

Canadian Heritage committee  I would agree with that, sir.

Canadian Heritage committee  Broadcasters have been very good in their past support of the Media Awareness Network. There have been many instances, in terms of ownership changes and transfers and the benefits that flowed from those transactions, when the Media Awareness Network was listed as a beneficiary. It has been kept alive and kept going because of the support of the broadcasting community.

Canadian Heritage committee  We haven't done any surveys in a long time, and I really can't give you a good answer. I would suspect, from the turnover in television sets, that probably between 75% and 80% of the sets today are V-chip equipped. How many parents are using it? We don't know. That would be research the Media Awareness Network could undertake that would be very valuable to all of us.

Canadian Heritage committee  The icon was never part of the original plan. It was put forward by the industry as an interim step, because there were some real technological difficulties in bringing the V-chip online. It was new technology, and in the national trial we undertook there were a number of bugs in the system that came to the fore.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's not something I have any expertise in, sir.