Canadian Heritage committee  I was just going to repeat the same things. There are two other unique things about community media. We don't have the sound-bite limitations on time that commercial and public media have. We feel we can give our MPs unlimited air time. They don't get their messages filtered. Second, part of participating in a democracy is for ordinary people to learn to develop their voices.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, absolutely. The first recommendation is to have a definition. We assume they're redefining what a BDU is to take in online platforms. We suggest a definition for community broadcasting that defines it as not for profit and includes participation by community members in administration, day-to-day operations and programming.

Canadian Heritage committee  What part are you referring to in particular?

Canadian Heritage committee  In the past, cable companies handled the budget and administration of the community element, but it was administered differently in Quebec. In Quebec, not-for-profit organizations—there are 40 of them—produce content, but they don't have a licence. They give their content to cable companies for distribution.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a question you should ask the representatives of the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec, or TCA, who appeared before the committee two weeks ago. The CRTC only recommended that Quebec cable companies give them something, and that recommendation was made behind closed doors.

Canadian Heritage committee  Honestly, I haven't read the part that deals with the community element. I'll take the time to do so and provide you with my answer response after the meeting, if you wish.

Canadian Heritage committee  I just wanted to elaborate. You asked what is the most important thing. There are three things we want, which we spelled out in our brief with some suggested wording. As Alex said, the first thing is a clear definition that this not-for-profit sector exists. Second, what's the role that we're playing?

Canadian Heritage committee  They don't have a single, national community media association. We discussed this with the Assembly of First Nations before. They told us at one point that they had in the ballpark of 60 indigenous community radio broadcasters, although my board member from Saskatchewan says there are over 50 in Saskatchewan alone.

Canadian Heritage committee  During our presentation, Mr. Freedman mentioned the three biggest roles that community media play. First, they represent the communities. The public and private elements are located in areas with a population of over 100,000. Almost all the licensees are in fairly large communities, whereas we can serve communities with as few as 500 homes.

Canadian Heritage committee  Second, we request a description of our role, equivalent to that accorded to the CBC. We suggest, as low-hanging fruit, to substitute “community media” for “alternative television programming services” in paragraph 3(1)(r) of the 1991 act. This paragraph was never used, but it almost exactly describes how community media reflect underserved groups.

Canadian Heritage committee  We'll conclude with a quote from the CRTC's 2011 report, “Shaping Regulatory Approaches for the Future”. It said, “Long-term approaches to ensuring the prominence and quality of Canadian production may increase the importance of public and community broadcasters as instruments of public policy.”

Canadian Heritage committee  Thanks so much for inviting us. As you said, I am Catherine Edwards with CACTUS. The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations, or CACTUS, advocates for access to digital skills training and support for production and broadcast platforms so that individuals and communities can express themselves in the digital environment.

Canadian Heritage committee  Community-owned and -operated radio and TV stations, many of which are evolving into multimedia innovation hubs, are answerable to community-elected boards. Most have government oversight through CRTC licensing or participation in programs such as the local journalism initiative.

Canadian Heritage committee  While more than 200 community radio stations survived Canada's digital transition, cable community TV has not, as Mr. Manly and Ms. McPherson queried. Cable ownership and technical consolidation have led to the closure of the majority of the 300 former cable studios that launched the careers of a whole generation of Canadian talent—people like Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers and Guy Maddin.

Canadian Heritage committee  Are you talking about the Canada 150 spending plans and celebrations for next year?