CALGARY – Shaw Communications has again rejected the arguments made by those who support the Canadian Television Fund and its aims.
Today the company "categorically rejected" a suggestion made by former Shaw executive Richard Stursberg, who is now CBC TV’s executive vice-president, that withholding payments to the fund will "unravel" the Canadian broadcasting system.
"It is unconstructive and misleading. The CBC is the biggest recipient of CTF monies. Canadians deserve a fair and independent accounting of how billions of dollars that they paid out in taxes and fees were spent by the CTF and the CBC," said Jim Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, in a press release.
Canada’s Auditor General, in her 2005 Report, questioned both the governance of the fund and its ability to demonstrate that it was meeting the public policy objectives underlying its creation. "We share these concerns and we believe the CBC’s involvement in the CTF is one of the main reasons for its failure," said Jim Shaw. "CBC automatically gets 37% of the CTF’s funds. This is an indirect and inappropriate tax on Canadian cable and satellite subscribers," he added.
Shaw has made it very clear to both the CTF (which faced the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday) and to the Government that it supports the Canadian broadcasting system and the production of Canadian programming that is relevant, market driven and self-sustaining, according to its press release.
"We do not think that the CTF is capable of getting the job done when it comes to promoting successful Canadian television programs," said Shaw. "CTF has created a culture of entitlement. It keeps giving the private broadcasters more and more money for Canadian programming, but broadcasters keep spending less and less on Canadian, and more on American programming. Something’s obviously not right. We challenge both organizations to show their accountability," concluded Shaw.
