QUEBEC – Quebec’s culture minister Luc Fortin is calling on the federal government to review, and perhaps override, parts of the CRTC's recent licence renewals for large French language TV groups.
In a statement earlier this week, Fortin said that the Commission’s decision to remove certain conditions of license, citing the example of Corus-owned Series+, allows that broadcaster to opt out of its obligation to spend $1.5 million annually on original French-language dramas.
Fortin added that the new policies may also encourage ownership groups to simply dub English-Canadian programs for their French-language specialty channels, rather than invest in the production of original French-language Canadian programming.
(Ed note: CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais took issue with these points in an open letter Wednesday).
“The recent ruling of the CRTC can only hurt original Francophone productions”, said Minister Fortin in the statement (translated). “So I challenged the Minister of Canadian Heritage to express my concerns. In addition, I have asked to use the exceptional procedure of availing myself of the provisions of certain sections of the Broadcasting Act in order to obtain a review or even annulment of the decisions of the CRTC. I consider that they are contrary to the objectives of the Canadian broadcasting policy, that they do not take into account the specificity of the francophone market and that they harm original French Canadian production."
