Canadian Heritage committee  I'll try to make the answer short. Again, where broadcasters will deploy digital transmitters, people within the coverage area of that transmitter will be able to get clear, HD digital signal straight off the air through their own apparatus. For those signals, they will be able t

Canadian Heritage committee  Probably not in a significant way.

Canadian Heritage committee  No, we have not set that out in detail simply because we are no longer in broadcasting. As I said in my opening remarks, we produce a large amount of local programming. In total, we produce some 12,000 hours of original programming a year in Ontario and Quebec. That is consider

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely.

Canadian Heritage committee  In part, but not only by volunteers. We also have people on site who contribute, along with our volunteers, to creating that original programming.

Canadian Heritage committee  With regard to the news service in North Bay—Ms. Tilson Dyment could talk to you about that—we have allocated specific resources for that purpose.

Canadian Heritage committee  Can I just say something quickly?

Canadian Heritage committee  First of all, cable is not a monopoly. I mean, you've heard this. We compete with several--I say several--alternative competing delivery platforms in each of our markets. We do compete. It's not true that we're a monopoly service. Maybe we were 20 years ago, but that's not the ca

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I can confirm that Cogeco Cable would be obliged to pass on the additional costs, i.e., the fee-for-carriage that would have to be paid to conventional broadcasters, to our customers. The reason for that is quite simple. We are a public company. We have shareholders. We ha

Canadian Heritage committee  It has been tried before. I'm not saying this earlier attempt sets a precedent for how things would shape up in Hamilton. It was tried before in the national capital region, a long time ago, and in the end the experiment was not sustainable. We ought to find out what the paramete

Canadian Heritage committee  The CRTC has asked us as well as other industry players, both broadcasters and distributors, to find alternate solutions. We took part in a working group, and its findings have been officially tabled as part of the CRTC's public file for the hearings that will be held in one week

Canadian Heritage committee  Some stations will definitely shut down, but it is up to the broadcasters to identify those stations.

Canadian Heritage committee  That is correct.

Canadian Heritage committee  I am neither an engineer nor a technician, but I will try to sum up our position. There was much debate during the hearing on the transfer of ownership of the TQS Network. One of the fundamental issues of that debate was whether or not to support changes that were considered by

Canadian Heritage committee  What you have to understand is that they are talking about converting, from analog to digital, all over-the-air broadcasters. Much of the conversion is done in studio equipment, sound, etc. However, the main problem is with the broadcasters. We are telling them, essentially base