Vidéotron and Shaw are behaving like bad corporate citizens in attempting to impose their views not through dialogue, discussion, and negotiation with their partners, but with an irresponsible show of power apt to destabilize the entire financing system for Canadian independent programs.
It is imperative not to encourage this attitude and to refuse any hasty negotiation of CTF reform with a gun to the head, especially since the argument advanced by Quebecor media to justify its attitudes is far from convincing.
The media have reported that their distribution subsidiary, Vidéotron, pays some $15 million a year to the CTF, while its TV programing subsidiary enjoys an annual $18 million envelope from the same fund to finance its programing through independent producers. Where is the injustice?
Notwithstanding these arguments invoked by Quebecor and Shaw, contributions to the CTF are not voluntary payments that these companies can arbitrarily decide to cut off, but regulated obligations that they must respect.
Moreover, the privilege of holding a cable distribution licence gives these companies important financial advantages, not the least of which is the fact that cable subscribers are still unable to choose their supplier since only one cable undertaking is authorized per territory. Cable operators have no more right to enjoy a licence while stopping their payments to the CTF than their customers have to enjoy continued access to cable service while withholding their fees.