Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming here today.
I think we as a government are also disappointed at the actions of Vidéotron and Shaw. I'm hoping it was simply a shot across the bow, perhaps an attempt to renegotiate terms of licences, etc. But I think your comments reflect the fact that the minister's announcement of $200 million of funding over the next two years clearly is a vote of confidence in the fund itself and the purposes it serves.
Mr. Moss, you made some comments about feeling that the CTF is under attack and may have been under attack for some time. I'm not sure I would necessarily disagree with you. One of the concerns, I think, is that the regulatory framework within which the CTF operates may be flawed. As you know, the CTF, in one form or another, has existed since 1993 and certainly since 1996 has involved government contributions. But over those years we've had a regulatory framework that uses regulations, circulars, licensing to try to ensure that the BDUs make their required contributions.
There's some indication, when you look at the court precedents, that the current ability of the CRTC to enforce the contributions from the industry may not be as strong as people expected. That problem has existed for a number of years now, probably since the program commenced, and it may take parliamentary action to ensure that we can actually force compliance to get those contributions.
That's a struggle we have. I'm sure everyone on this committee is a little bit frustrated with that. There have been suggestions that the minister should intervene. There have been suggestions that the CRTC should simply enforce the regulations and that it may not even have the ability to do so if it's challenged in the courts.
May we have your comments?