Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Motion No. 367, brought forward by my our colleague, the member for Longueuil.
The motion before the House today asks the federal government to, and I quote:
(a) take all measures necessary to encourage, facilitate and actively support the right to communications of the deaf and hearing impaired;
Closed captioning involves printing on the screen, in sub-title format, the oral part of a television program, that is the dialogues and the narrative. This allows hearing impaired viewers to read what they cannot hear.
To access closed captioning, they have to decode a broadcasting signal known as “line 21”. To that end, the television receiver has to be equipped with an integrated closed captioning decoder for the hearing impaired or be upgraded by the installation of an external decoder.
I think that it is important to specify that parliament has made the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission the independent public authority responsible for regulating and monitoring the Canadian broadcasting system.
The CRTC has already issued specific requirements for closed captioning because it is convinced, just like you and me, that television has a fundamental role to play in the public debates and the free circulation of ideas that enrich a democratic society.
Under the Broadcasting Act, and I quote:
Programming accessible by disabled persons should be provided within the Canadian broadcasting system as resources become available for the purpose.
I believe it is important to remind the House that because of the higher cost to closed caption French language programming, private sector French language broadcasters do not provide the same level of closed captioned programs as English broadcasters. Even though they do not have the same requirements as English language television stations, they have always been encouraged to increase the number of hours of closed captioned programming that their station airs per year.
Allow me to explain the reasons behind the difference between English and French broadcasters.
Unlike their English counterparts, French broadcasters cannot purchase foreign programs that have already been closed captioned, because the closed captioning technology used in many French speaking countries is incompatible with the technology used in Canada. Furthermore, the cost of closed captioning in French is approximately 2.5 times greater than the cost of closed captioning in English.
As well, given the small size of the French market, the limited use of the service generates very few sponsors, and as a result, a weak return on investment.
According to many broadcasting specialists, these numerous obstacles mean that this type of service, despite its benefits for the hard of hearing, does little to benefit the competitiveness of French broadcasters.
I would like to draw attention to the fact that the member for Longueuil, in the press release she issued on the day the motion was brought forward, said, and I quote:
--French networks, which are not required by the CRTC to meet the same closed captioning criteria as English networks--
In its 1999 television policy, the CRTC recognizes explicitly that the closed captioning requirements should be the same for both French and English broadcasters and is now applying this principle when renewing licences for French broadcasters.
Since 1999, the CRTC expects French broadcasters to gradually reach closed captioning levels similar to those of English broadcasters.
In developing its overall strategy with regard to closed captioning, the CRTC considered the fact that all licensees do not have the same financial resources.
Indeed, the requirements that may be just fine for a large station in an urban market could be a heavy financial burden for a station in a smaller market. So equality with regard to closed captioning will come gradually, slowly but surely.
For example, since 2001, the largest French private television network, TVA, knows that it will have to raise its closed captioning levels to 100% for its news programming by September 2004 and to 90% for all its programming by 2007.
Among the requirements of the Canadian Television Fund, closed captioning is compulsory for a production that includes narration, dialogues and songs, unless the program is intended for children under five, or is in an aboriginal language that does not use the roman alphabet.
The Government of Canada is committed to social inclusion and access for all Canadians to a broadcasting system that meets their needs. The principles underlying Motion No. 367 are unquestionably very laudable, but they do not, in the opinion of this government, require additional legislation or an amendment to the existing act.
In conclusion, I would invite the hon. member for Longueuil to inform the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage of this important issue. It would be very appropriate for the author of Motion No. 367, to make representations and present her arguments to this committee.
I want to congratulate the hon. member for Longueuil. I get the impression that a number of members of parliament have family members who are hard of hearing.
For example, many people know that, in his last years as governor general, my father had a lot of problems hearing from his right ear. When I go home, to New Brunswick, and my father is there, the volume of the television set is turned quite high.
I believe, like many of us, that Canadians who live with these difficulties and handicaps must have access to television and be able to learn from, to hear and to enjoy a society that they are also a part of.