The francophone population outside Quebec represents 14% of the total francophone population of Canada. The Broadcasting Act currently contains only one reference to linguistic duality. Under this bill, that is the only provision that confers a status on us. It is therefore very important to make express mention of the official language minority communities to ensure that content is produced and access is provided to that content in communities outside Quebec.
Some say the Official Languages Act confers a particular status on us by virtue of the fact that it is a quasi-constitutional statute. However, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only broadcaster that is required to spend money on Canadian programming or that, under the act, has mandated obligations toward francophone minority communities.
The large private groups don't have those obligations. However, the CRTC has elected to interpret linguistic duality in a fairly vague manner as it regards those groups. It imposes certain expectations on them and offers incentives that have done very little to meet the needs of the OLMCs.