Vancouver’s ethnic communities fight for multilingual TV

It’s rare that Canada’s diverse multicultural communities come together in a united front to address an issue. But a recent CRTC decision denying Vancouver a free, multilingual television station is a stunning slap in the face not only for members of British Columbia's ethnic communities, but for all concerned Canadians, be their mother tongue English or otherwise. The sting runs even deeper given an understanding of the politics at play here, which should rightly offend a federal Liberal government which has loudly and publicly touted its devotion to multiculturalism. The facts are straightforward. On July 6, the CRTC denied an application by Toronto-based CFMT-TV for a licence to operate a multilingual ethnic television station in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia which includes greater Vancouver. This was the second time CFMT-TV was turned down on the application. As Vancouver already has five local television stations (soon a sixth will go to air), it is easy to dismiss the decision as reasonable. But that would ignore the genuine needs of an immense multi-ethnic community numbering 800,000 strong throughout the Lower Mainland. This was the proposed channel's target audience, and these are the people who most need Canada's professed tolerance and understanding of multicultural issues. It is not a small thing to have access to media in one's own language, be that entertainment, news at a local and international level, or information important and perhaps unique to one's own ethnic background. And it is curious in the extreme as to why the CRTC should want to deny what many would call a right. In fact, the decision both puzzled and angered leaders of Canada's multicultural community, leading to the formation of a coalition of diverse non-ethnic and ethnic-based groups such as the Canadian Jewish Congress (Pacific Region) and a host of others representing Canadians of Polish, Italian, Chinese, black and Hispanic background. It is important to realize that it is this group which now is appealing to the federal Cabinet to ask the CRTC to reconsider its decision, hoping for a more reasoned and responsible approach on the application's merits and the demand for over-the-air multilingual TV station in Vancouver. The eagerness of these groups to oppose the CRTC's decision demonstrates pointedly the fact that the case's ramifications run deeper than the desires of an ethnic viewing audience located in a portion of one province. What is at work here when the CRTC's own ethnic broadcasting policy states: "The Canadian broadcasting system should reflect the circumstances and aspirations of Canadians, including the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian Society"? What is at work here when ethnic viewers in Toronto and Montreal have enjoyed access to similar multilingual stations for years, and yet Vancouver is denied the same? And what indeed is at work here, when the CRTC decision was the result of a three-two split vote, the two dissenting voters (who would have granted the licence) being the western Canadian commissioners? Both dissenters noted that Vancouver's growing ethnic population will fuel an even greater need for an ethnic television station. They are not theorizing about the far-distant future, as the city's ethnic population is projected to reach 1.8 million by 2006, a number which far exceeds the size of many of Canada's larger cities like Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax. It is these unanswered questions which tend to taint the decision of a commission supposedly independent and fair in its measure of what is right for Canadian television audiences. That is the issue which should concern a Liberal government if it truly stands for the rights of Canadians of all ethnic background; further, this is a government which appoints the CRTC commissioners. Should it not be interested that some of those commissioners seemed to violate the very policy which supposedly governs the commission on questions of ethnic programming, and which the commission has itself stated to be a governing rule which has as its "primary goal" the insurance of "access to ethnic programming" wherever practicable? It is notable in this regard that at the same time the CRTC denied the licence for ethnic programming in B.C. , it approved an application by CHUM Ltd. for what amounts to yet another English-language television station blanketing the same target area. The argument cannot be made that the two stations would have much overlapped audiences, as the ethnic station would have for the most part provided multilingual service to specific nationality groups, whereas the CHUM channel will not deviate from an all-English format. Let’s not forget that CHUM’s City-TV station co-exists et with CFMT-TV in the Toronto market. In Canada's burgeoning multimedia industry worth billions to the likes of jousting high-tech players like Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. (which owns CFMT-TV), and CHUM Ltd., it behooves an organization such as the CRTC to scrupulously mind its P's and Q's, making decisions based on what's right for Canadians, and not what's good for business or political masters. Canadians need confidence in institutions like the CRTC and that is why this decision must be re-examined and evaluated critically for all the reasons (both stated and unsaid) which led to the denial. To do less will undermine Canada's rightful reputation as a fair and unprejudiced society. And what of Sheila Copps? As a Liberal, and cabinet minister for Canadian Heritage, we are looking to her to send a strong signal to Canada's multicultural community that their voices count and they form part of the Canadian content she defends. She has spoken in the past of the need to promote Canada's multicultural mosaic, and we hope she will open the door to that opportunity in this case. Ironically, the case may be moot within a matter of weeks or months. A Washington-based TV station plans to soon broadcast ethnic programming into the Vancouver market, filling the hole which a Canadian company sought permission to do, and denying Canadians the Canadian content they would have received. Does the CRTC find this result desirable? Is this truly what Canadians want, and if so, why not get rid of the CRTC and just open the airwaves to the dominant U.S. culture? Why indeed? As B.C.'s ethnic community puts it, they'd like a local television station to address their concerns, discuss their issues and tell their stories. It is disappointing that Canada can't seem to get the message. Mobina Jaffer is president of the YWCA of Canada. Mason Loh, Q.C. is a founding and managing partner of Loh & Company, Barristers and Solicitors in Vancouver and chair of the board of the United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society (SUCCESS).

Vancouver’s ethnic communities fight for multilingual TV

Broadcast | September 14, 2000

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