This highlights the importance of fully understanding the impact of liberalized ownership rules on the Canadian broadcasting sector. While the policy debate on foreign ownership in telecom focuses on issues such as access to capital, economic efficiency, and consumer pricing, the policy implications on the broadcasting side differ. In addition to industrial issues, foreign ownership in broadcasting raises fundamental social and cultural issues. Indeed, Canadian ownership and control of broadcasting companies, both BDUs and programming services, have provided the necessary conditions to enable the creation of and access to content that reflects distinctive Canadian perspectives and ideas.
This has been a key measure in attaining a Canadian cultural sovereignty within the overall North American context. It has also enabled the development of an important and vibrant Canadian economic sector. Given the current convergence of communications companies, these cultural and social policy considerations will inevitably come up as you contemplate potential changes to the foreign ownership restrictions on the telecom side, and we submit that they must be addressed.