Madam Minister, once more, you referred to the CRTC which is independent. There is a much more important issue: two cable operators are not abiding by their licence’s terms and are in complete violation. You have met them but no one has ever heard you say, as minister, that it was unacceptable for them not to honour the terms of their licences.
You told the committee today that your are requesting them to make their monthly payments. This is the first time you said it. On December 20, Shaw said it was not contributing to the CTF anymore. On January 23, Mr. Péladeau, from Québécor, made the same announcement.
How can people publicly state they will not abide by the law and the regulations? How can a government minister not say this doesn’t make sense, this is unacceptable and this country’s laws and regulations must be obeyed?
Madam Minister, you are being blamed for not responding quickly, for not saying this is unacceptable. You said the CRTC can act. This is true. It could change the terms of the licences starting tomorrow morning. But it is not doing it, it is not acting.
This is obvious to us. In his announcement yesterday, Mr. Péladeau did not show any intention of abiding by the CRTC’s regulations concerning the CTF.
I have a very direct question to ask you. What do you think of Mr. Péladeau’s suggestion to invest everything in the Québécor Fund instead of the Canadian Television Fund?