Industry committee  The law requires that those distributors of programming services be Canadian, be under the control of Canadians, and effectively control their operations. I'm trying to answer your question, because I have to start from the legislation itself. The minute an entity starts distri

Industry committee  First, you should all realize that having the guts to challenge the CRTC is not very good for our operations. I'll start with that. I've been chairman of the CRTC, so I know how I used to behave. We're saying we should start by looking at it. We've done that for the competition

Industry committee  It does apply to all cable operators, all satellite operators like Bell ExpressVu and Shaw. They are regulated by the CRTC under the Broadcasting Act.

Industry committee  I don't know, quite frankly. The family--

Industry committee  In cable, Rogers, Vidéotron, Shaw, and Cogeco, who are the bigger players in the field, are all regulated under the Broadcasting Act because they play a role in our activities. We like to call them a partner--sometimes we have to remind them they are--but they really are very fun

Industry committee  Mr. Bouchard, the assurances given by Telesat Canada stem from section 28(2) of the Telecommunications Act. According to this provision, should a dispute arise at some point in time between the distribution undertaking, Bell ExpressVu for example, and Telesat Canada, and should B

Industry committee  If I may, Mr. Chair, I have two answers to your question. One has to do with the content itself, or the access to a larger variety or diversified service. I'll take the service of pay TV, for example. In Canada, there are three operators of pay television. They offer everything t

Industry committee  First, a little correction. We don't produce. Our philosophy is to work with independent producers, so we buy programming. The fundamental issue is the second part of your question. Suppose that tomorrow morning Verizon is authorized to come into Canada and it buys Rogers. All

Industry committee  Had that scenario been possible, we would have been concerned. Imagine an American company becoming the owner of Telesat Canada and imagine a strong demand in the United States for additional satellite space as a result of HD or 3D. Had we wanted to occupy all of Telesat Canada's

Industry committee  Proposals for ownership liberalization over carriage, i.e., telecom and BDUs, must absolutely take into account the key role that BDUs have traditionally played in meeting the social and cultural objectives under the Broadcasting Act. Unlike a pure common carrier, a BDU does pl

Industry committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair, committee members and staff. First of all, I want to thank the committee for inviting Astral Media Inc. to share its views on foreign ownership rules and regulations in the telecommunications sector. As some of you may already know, Astral is a Canadian

Canadian Heritage committee  We don't think there is a need for additional rules at the present time. We negotiate with them. We know very well that they are, by their nature, our competitors in some instances, but we find solutions. If we don't, then there is the mechanism of the CRTC, where we can go and

Canadian Heritage committee  I will start with the last part of your question. The opting-out provision already exists. The digital system allows people to purchase the services they want, and that could eventually extend to conventional channels. I think it is a philosophical question. The Canadian broadcas

Canadian Heritage committee  I would never say a thing like that. I would not be able to make it back to Montreal, because Videotron people would have my hide at the provincial lines! It is important to understand that specialty services, in the beginning... It is true that at the time, the idea was to help

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely not. The carriage fees amount to 60% of our revenues, and 100% in the case of pay television.