TORONTO – With the Commission expected to rule shortly on a proposed $5.7 million accessibility fund (proposed by BCE as a piece of its tangible benefits package in acquiring CTV), Media Access Canada is cautioning the Regulator to choose an administrator of that fund wisely.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein suggested the creation of such a fund to Bell executives during the hearing into the acquisition of CTV. He asked if $5.7 million of the benefits package still unspent from the first time BCE bought CTV in 2000 could be used for such a fund. Bell said sure.
The aim of the fund would be to ensure that the broadcasting system becomes 100% accessible to disabled Canadians by 2020 and was proposed by the not-for-profit organization MAC, on behalf of the Access 2020 Coalition. The funding will underwrite the final details and execution of a business plan to achieve 100% accessibility in Canadian broadcasting by 2020, says MAC.
“We believe the CRTC recognizes this opportunity to establish an accessibility fund, controlled by accessibility organizations to work with experts, academics and stakeholders, an approach never before attempted,” stated Beverley Milligan, executive director of MAC. “The CRTC will be the first regulator in the history of international broadcasting to empower accessibility organizations to finally get the job done for Canadians with disabilities.”
In submissions to the CRTC, MAC presented evidence that past attempts on the part of broadcasters to consult with accessibility organizations have not succeeded. “BCE’s suggestion that it establish its own fund to work towards 100% accessibility in broadcasting in consultation with the accessibility community is just more of the same, empty words,” says Louise Gillis, national president, Canadian Council of the Blind.
“If BCE wants to control the fund, does this mean they are prepared to ensure 100% accessibility by 2020?” noted Louise Normand, president of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. “Broadcasters like BCE have had 60 years to provide 100% accessibility on their own and they haven’t. This work should be overseen by those who are most committed to its success.”
MAC contends it has developed a business plan to achieve 100% accessibility and requires the control to execute it.
“What has been lacking to date is the commitment to make it happen,” says Milligan. “Consultation in the past has been a smokescreen behind which the broadcasters have hidden”.
The CRTC decision on the acquisition will be announced prior to March 11, 35 days after the end of the hearing.
