Evidence of meeting #69 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was crtc.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The public file is made up of evidence and studies. It's pretty sizeable. As I pointed out, people don't have to attend the hearings in person to make a statement.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Was the impact on official language minority communities measured in your preliminary studies further to these decisions?
4:25 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Specific studies were done on the switch from analog to digital, because there was a departmental component in the decision making. In the case of the LPIF, the agency itself brought the matter up at the table. We considered those effects.
4:25 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
I can assure you that it factors into everything we do.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
I would hope so.
I have another question on francophones in minority language communities.
So there is digital service, among other things. If you consider basic digital plans, you see that the service is pretty limited. The French-language content is at 12% and comes mostly from Quebec. Do you have a strategy to address this problem that francophones in minority language communities have?
4:25 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
As I said earlier, it may be easier to start up a radio station because the operating costs are much lower. Right now, French-language service comes mostly from Quebec, although TFO, a network funded by the Ontario government, is also available. Currently, as I mentioned, we are about to consider two applications during the hearings in April. They are proposals for stations that would reflect Canada's francophone reality.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
If I understand correctly, there is no TV-based strategy to address this problem? What you're telling me is that radio broadcasting is easier. I can see that, but I am wondering about the TV side. Do you have a serious strategy? How do we improve this situation or solve this problem for our communities?
4:25 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Operating a television service is extremely expensive. And I am pleasantly surprised that two stakeholders are looking to offer TV service outside Quebec. They want to represent the francophonie. We will be considering that during the upcoming hearings. I can tell you it's been a few years since we've seen anything like that. Offering programming and running television stations is very expensive, even for specialty television stations.
4:25 p.m.
NDP
4:30 p.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you kindly.
I'll keep it brief. The CRTC-OLMC discussion group was created under the three-year action plan. Did the group meet in 2012? And if so, when? Will the minutes of the other meetings be made public?
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
A meeting was scheduled for November 2012. But since we were in the midst of the CBC/Radio-Canada hearings, we decided that it wasn't the best time to meet with the stakeholders.
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Yes. There was a meeting on January 30, in fact. We met with the communities. I wasn't able to attend but I promised to be at the next meeting. I plan to be an active participant.
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
They will be posted as soon as they are translated.
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Thank you.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have a question but, for technical reasons, I am going to ask it in English.
In response to Mr. Dion, you spoke about the example of Rogers in Mississauga and cable providers providing French broadcasting. I'm wondering how much regulatory communication with the large cable providers the CRTC has when it formulates specialized channel services in bundles. For instance, is there an ability for francophones in minority francophone areas to acquire specialized additional channels through these bundling programs, in this case multicultural bundling?
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Yes, there are rules in place that frame what cable and satellite distributors have to offer. There are some basic services, and one of the most important ones that affects them is this 1-in-10 rule. I think cable and satellite providers, knowing that some people might just want to have some French bundles offered, have figured out that it's just good marketing and business practice to offer those choices. So that's how they do it.
Maybe Scott can add to that.
4:30 p.m.
Executive Director, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Yes, it's very much within the interests of satellite companies, because they're national services. They not only have very good French and English services, but in some cases they also actually have very good bilingual services for someone like me who navigates the two languages.
More specifically, in the minority-language communities, we do have a rule that actually requires BDUs to offer a group of all the French services in one package in the digital format, which is much easier for them to do. As we speak, we actually have a requirement in place that facilitates this. All of the BDUs abide by that rule.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Has there been any thought given to how that could be extended as more Canadians cut the cable to go to Internet-based broadcasting or to bundling their services? I think that will probably continue in the next decade. Some of it is not under the regulatory purview of the CRTC, I guess, but is it being considered?
4:30 p.m.
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
A lot of people talk about this cord-cutting or cord-shaving. I'm not sure to what extent it's occurring. It's something that in our supervisory function we look at ongoing.... In fact, some studies indicate that the people who everybody thought were cord-cutting and going to things like Netflix are in fact people who consume even more video content. Not only are they watching the Netflix content, but they're also watching the more traditional platforms of distribution.
But in the late 1990s—I think in 1999—and then again recently, the commission looked at this and decided that we were actually obliged under subsection 9(4) of the act, in that if we thought the objectives of the Broadcasting Act could be achieved without licensing these Internet-based companies, we should and we must in fact exempt them from licensing. That's why there are operations that are Internet-based programming undertakings, but because of the digital media exemption order, they are not required to hold a licence.
Now, that being said, I'm seeing more and more offerings in both languages. Maybe not on Netflix, but even there, if you notice it carefully, they have started offering French language services content. Others have as well. Vidéotron recently launched a service as well, an Internet-based service that is available right now in Ontario and Quebec, as I saw in the press release, which offers over 2,000 titles in French. Sometimes the market meets the need.
As Scott has just mentioned to me, Tou.tv, an initiative of the Société Radio-Canada, is very widely available and provides French language content. There's content there.
