PAUL TEMPLE SUGGESTS that the current economic crisis should give The CRTC pause to consider whether the world has changed in the 6 months, since the CRTC’s hearings on BDU and Specialty services. No doubt.
As he writes in his commentary from this morning, entitled: “Is the economic crisis a cautionary tale for our broadcasting system?”
“As governments around the world pour money into the financial sector to correct the sins of the past, you can be sure it’s too little too late. You can’t roll back history. Are we headed for the same crisis in Canadian broadcasting? Will we be making the same mistakes; rely too heavily on the marketplace, eliminate regulatory safeguards that promote Canadian programming and end up trying to fix the system three or five years from now when it’s too late?”
Perhaps as a party that argued for a balanced approach to these issues at the hearing, including maintenance of access rules, might we suggest that the other lesson we have learned is the government can’t make the world a better place by pouring money into uneconomic endeavors.
If there is anything the CRTC needs to take a hard look at, it’s the idea of increasing fees/taxes to fund unviable content. Increased fees ultimately get passed through to consumers in terms of higher costs.
Now is not the time for one hand of government to be passing through new culture taxes at the same time the other hand is abdicating its responsibilities in that area. Nothing could be more out of touch with the economic realities of October 2008.
Michael Hennessy
vice-president, wireless, broadband and content policy
Telus
Ottawa
