We now know that what they really want is to direct their contributions into their own funds. Pierre Karl Péladeau not only wants to send his contributions to his own fund, but only his production company can access the money to produce programs to be aired only on his broadcasters. Let me tell you why that's not a good idea.
Shaw has the Rocket Fund and Vidéotron has the Quebecor Fund, but these funds were licensed specifically to address the needs of underserved markets, like children's programming. This is not the first time the cable operators have attempted to have mandatory contributions diverted to their separate funds. But in 1996, the government determined that this was not the best way to go, and in fact capped contributions to private funds at 20%. Why? Because diverting all of their contributions to their own funds would not ensure that Canadians enjoyed a variety of programming. This is what the CTF has been successfully doing for ten years.
Shaw and Vidéotron's proposals are a kind of gatekeeping that amounts to censorship, while allowing their own money to go directly to support the bottom line of a few media conglomerates instead of the public. We are very concerned that Shaw and Vidéotron are trying to determine what programs get produced in this country. We already know a popular show like Trailer Park Boys will be cancelled because of Jim Shaw's dislike of half-naked weed smokers. Can we allow one group's programming preferences to dictate the entire country's broadcast schedule, or should we just encourage them to change the channel?