That's fine.
I just want to end very quickly with a story that probably most of you are familiar with. It's an indication of why the current structure is failing Canadians and why this other sector of the Canadian broadcast system, we think, offers opportunities for long-term solutions.
In Hamilton, CanWest Global's local affiliate is CHCH-TV. CanWest announced they wanted to either close CHCH-TV or sell it. The Hamilton community rallied to save its only local broadcaster. They brought together the requisite technical expertise, capital investment, and support from local representatives from all levels of government. The only thing left was for CanWest to sell the licence, just like CTV recently did with Shaw for their E channels. But CanWest didn't sell the licence to the community group. They've gone to the CRTC to request significant reductions in local programming. It suggests that Hamilton's communities have cynically been used as bargaining chips, with their local programming being held hostage in exchange for significant reductions in local programming commitments.
Whether or not this is the case, the network is using the crisis to reduce its local programming obligations, while a local initiative with a local focus, local ownership, a viable business plan, and sufficient capitalization is being frozen out. That's the problem.
Communities have very different interests in local broadcasting than national networks and international media groups do. We need to find a way to help locally owned initiatives that are aimed at creating and maintaining independent broadcasting and programming. We believe that our recommendations are a step in this direction.
Thank you.