Mr. Speaker, the House will recall that in a recent case, when the minister was gagged by
the Leader of the Government, CRTC regulations were circumvented to ensure that Power DirecTv obtained a special authorization.
My question to the minister raises the same concerns. How can the minister expect francophones in Quebec and Canada to feel secure in the belief that the federal government will protect the French fact and their cultural identity in the broadcasting sector, when we know perfectly well that recently, the federal government bent the rules of the CRTC to give Power DirecTv an advantage and that now the same company proposes a pay per view service including 63 English channels, 60 of which are American, and one French channel? How can francophones say they are being well defended by this government?