OTTAWA – Broadcast, cable and telecom initiatives currently before cabinet, committees and other Parliament Hill panels (like the repeatedly delayed amendments to the Radiocommunication Act) again face death or delay if another federal election is called.
We chatted with a few Ottawa-based broadcast, cable and telecom folks last week and at that point, all were guessing an election was in the offing this spring thanks to the Adscam inquiry. “Most Tories are saying, ‘let’s go now, don’t give them a chance,” said one Ottawa broadcasting insider. “Liberals are just hoping for the best.”
(These insiders most often like to stay anonymous, since they don’t want to risk offending the people they are lobbying.)
So, if an election happens, we wondered, what’s currently in the queue for the government in the broadcast, cable and telecom spheres, which would certainly perish on paper or be long-delayed with an election call.
• Bill C-37, the government’s do-not-call legislation, would have to start over again during the next session.
• Amendments to the Radiocommunication Act to stiffen the thing against satellite signal thieves (targeting commercial operations selling foreign satellite gear) would have to start all over again, again.
Making the Act tougher has been tried before, in September 2003 and February 2004, but the efforts died on the order paper as Parliament was prorogued when former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien quit in ’03 and an election was called in ’04. The last time around it was the first real bill tabled on the floor – as Bill C-2 – but it still didn’t make it to law.
This time around, the amendments to the Radiocommunication Act didn’t even get that far. According to sources, it was supposed to go to Cabinet to get drafting authority, but with the Gomery Adscam Commission consuming all of Ottawa, especially the Liberal Cabinet, much government business is on the back burner.
• Industry Canada’s recently announced telecom review panel (an all-encompassing committee looking at regulation and voice over Internet protocol, other technology and foreign ownership) won’t be disbanded and can go ahead during an election. It can present a report regardless of any government changes, but a switch at the top might alter its focus. Plus, it’s hard to do any public consultations in the middle of an election campaign.
• While the federal government has kept up with its industry appointments, such as three new CBC board members and four new CRTC hires, including former cable executive Elizabeth Duncan (of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia’s former Access Communications) as the new Eastern Canada Commissioner, still on the to-do list is finding a replacement for Broadcasting vice-chair Andree Wylie.
Wylie had her term extended by a year last August and according to several sources, has been told that won’t happen again. “Her odds of staying are zero,” said one senior TV official.
The most popular name rising so far has been Astral Media’s senior advisor of government and regulatory affairs Michel Arpin, mentioned by three people we talked to, who spent from 1971 to 1979 at the Commission (overlapping current chair Charles Dalfen’s ’70s tenure there).
“However, they could appoint someone from the inside,” said the official.
• Copyright reform would also be stalled with an election. Based on World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) guidelines, the broadcast industry was hoping for stronger laws to stop free downloading of music and video content. Strengthening Canadian copyright laws has long been a promise from Heritage Minister Liza Frulla.
• The industry is also awaiting the CRTC’s decision on relaxing its genre-protection policies when it comes to third-language channels such as RAI International. The Italian government channel was an election issue last time around and it might well be this time, too.
Many Italian-Canadians would like to be able to see RAI but the Commission opposed its addition in Canada due to its genre protection policy. Corus Entertainment-controlled Telelatino already occupied the Italian space on the dial. The CRTC was told by government to re-visit that issue and is looking at easing its policy for third language foreign channels.
• The one thing that everyone has been told is sure to be announced sometime around May 12, no matter what happens politically, is the CRTC’s decision on regulating VOIP delivered telephony. It will come then.
So, if there is an election and a change in government, is there anything to fear, we asked?
While the Conservative Party’s thinking about the broadcast and cable industry was rather light during the last election, only calling for open skies for foreign satellites and that the CRTC be limited to licensing only, the party’s March policy convention rounded out its position quite a bit.
Its policy paper recognizes the “vital role” played by Canadian broadcasters in Canadian society.
“The Conservative Party of Canada believes in a stable Canadian presence in a varied and vibrant broadcasting system. The Canadian broadcasting system should offer a wide range of Canadian and international programming, while being respectful of Canadian content. The system should provide audiences with maximum choice and have the ability to utilize new technologies to achieve its public and private objectives,” it says.
However, the paper also says that a Conservative government would “review and update the Broadcasting Act to ensure its relevance in today’s technological environment. The Conservative Party of Canada will establish clear, national policy directions and a framework that will maximize the freedom of choice and ensure that freedom of speech is respected. The CRTC’s role in content regulation will be reduced to eliminate duplication where other legislation exists.”
Plus, the Conservatives now have former CTV executive and CRTC Commissioner Bev Oda as an MP and Heritage Critic to provide some deeper thinking on the cable, broadcast and telecom industries.
One thing to consider though is that while most expect nothing will change in a minority government, no matter who leads it, should there be a coalition between the Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives, the Bloc could push for provincial jurisdiction over cultural matters.
– Greg O’Brien
