Joint committee grills CRTC on bilingual policy; townhall meetings to begin in fall

A member of the federal government's official languages committee suggests the CRTC is overstepping its authority with a proposal to force cable operators to carry francophone services in more Canadian markets. Appearing before the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages on May 9, CRTC chair Françoise Bertrand raised the ire of Canadian Alliance MP Grant Hill with a proposal to broaden the distribution of French-language television services across all of Canada. The proposal - initially floated in March as part of PN 2000-38 - suggests that having 10 per cent of a community with a "working knowledge" of French is enough to warrant broader distribution of French-language services into the area. In an interview with CCR, Hill described the commission's approach to the language issue as "unreasonable", saying it has taken too liberal a view in redefining what constitutes a bilingual market. The current benchmark requires that 50 per cent of a community understand French. The CRTC's hope of extending the reach of francophone services is proving to be a difficult and contentious task. In April, the federal Cabinet ordered the CRTC to stop PN 2000-38, which was to examine the availability of minority-language services across the country. The Cabinet subsequently mandated the commission to concentrate solely on the issue of French services. In response, the commission is inviting members of the public to comment on the proposed policy at a series of townhall meetings being scheduled for September across Canada. A public hearing on the issue will follow in October in Hull QC. A new policy on bilingual markets - which would require changes to the Broadcast Distribution Regulations - is scheduled for release next spring. Hill says the CRTC is tackling a politically charged issue that will find little public support, particularly within his constituency in Alberta. "They take up this project at their peril, because if people in my part of the world believe this is going to be the standard, there will be a loss of public support for bilingualism, a loss of public support for French immersion," he told CCR. "Where there's a reasonable demand, everyone is in agreement the services should be provided. But this is creating a demand where no demand exists." The CRTC is defining a bilingual community as one with at least 5,000 people, and where at least 10 per cent know French. It would not have to be a person's first language - an idea Bertrand says is supported by Statistics Canada, and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. As the CRTC's executive director of broadcasting, Jean-Pierre Blais, said to the committee, "We take into account everyone who knows French, not only those who speak French at home or for whom French is their mother tongue." "We want to strike some balance among different interests," added Bertrand. "We are trying to identify the things that will best meet the requirements of the Act. In this case, there is no doubt that the Broadcasting Act is very clear regarding the need to serve the dual culture of this country." In his questions to Bertrand and Blais, Hill said the CRTC is wrong to believe that a minority of Canadians can bring about such a change simply because it holds a public consultation on the issue. "I think a major policy change and direction like this should be made by elected officials who have a much broader consultation process than you would, and I state that very strongly. I think you're on very thin ice when you say (you have the authority to implement this policy)." The CRTC's senior general counsel maintains the commission does have the authority to define a bilingual market. John Keogh pointed out that the existing definition was implemented by the commission, and therefore can be changed by the commission. "In terms of the whole discussion that we've been having in terms of the markets, the obligations to distribute certain services are found in regulations made by the commission which have been made pursuant to the authority Parliament granted it." Blais confirmed that the policy would also apply to Francophone communities where people speaking English make up more that 10 per cent of the population. He conceded though that the policy is primarily aimed at francophone minorities in English communities.

Joint committee grills CRTC on bilingual policy; townhall meetings to begin in fall

Broadcast | May 25, 2000

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