Elizabeth McDonald, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, spoke about the need to preserve Canadian content in a globalized economy before the Canadian Club in Toronto. She notes that the government’s innovation strategy has concentrated on businesses and economies at large, but has not focused much on what it means for the cultural industries. Below is an excerpt from her November 18 speech, entitled "Canadian TV and Movies are Worth the Investment."

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Susan Croome has been appointed B.C. film commissioner, which falls under the province’s Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise. She was formerly the general manager of the province’s Bridge Studios for eight years.

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Cable standards council downsizes, hopes to keep Shaw
The Cable Television Standards Council (CTSC) is cutting two of four staff members, and relocating to cheaper office space – a move that it hopes will convince Shaw Communications Inc. to remain as a member. CTSC president and CEO Gerry Lavallée tells Canadian Communications Reports, "They (Shaw) have indicated to us that they would like to resign by December 1. However, we are working quite hard to try to keep them in the fold." Lavallée says the council upped the amount it charged members from 7.5 cents to 8.5 cents per year for each subscriber a cableco has when Vidéotron ltée left the organization last year. He anticipates that if Shaw were to remain a member, then the rate would fall two or three cents per subscriber with the cuts. If it doesn’t, then the remaining members will probably have to pay the existing amount and get less service. Lavallée says the CTSC’s budget will be finalized on January 4, with it going to the board for approval in February. Shaw currently pays $170,000 of the council’s $600,000 budget. He adds that he’s in constant contact with Vidéotron, and hopes that the Quebec-based cableco will one day also rejoin the organization. The CTSC is also in the process of subleasing its 16,000-square-foot office space on the 19th floor of 350 Albert Street in Ottawa, and relocating to 500-square feet of space in the Canadian Cable Television Association’s offices at 360 Albert. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) made a similar cost-cutting move this year by moving under the same roof as the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) (CCR, Oct. 24/02). Customer complaints about the practices of cable companies that aren’t members of the CTSC would normally go to the CRTC. But Shaw has indicated it plans to set up an internal process to deal with customer complaints.

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Cogeco Cable Inc. is hoping the rollout of video-on-demand across the territories it serves in Ontario and Quebec will boost its digital cable service, as it faces intense competition from satellite TV providers, both legal and illegal. Canada’s fourth-largest cableco has already completed "soft" rollouts of VOD in several cities in the two provinces, joining Rogers Cable Inc. (CCR Update, Oct. 17/02; CCR, March 1/02) and Shaw Cablesystems (CCR, July 4/02) in trying to give its digital cable service an edge over satellite.

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The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) got its requested wholesale rate and expanded programming in a seven-year licence renewal issued November 19 by the CRTC. At the same time, the CRTC has made it mandatory for large cable operators and satellite TV distributors to carry the channel in their basic packages.

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Veteran broadcaster Trina McQueen has her work cut out for her in trying to solve Canada’s ailing production and viewing of homegrown television drama. While there is consensus among the CRTC, government institutions such as Telefilm Canada, and producers (see Newsmakers column on page 8) that the drama genre needs to be revitalized, there is little agreement on how best to reach the goal. McQueen has been hired by the CRTC to develop options and proposals to create new incentives for Canadian drama (CCR, Oct. 24/02).

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Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Winnipeg raided a business that was allegedly making AVR cards and selling equipment for use to receive pirated U.S. television signals, and charged it under both the Radiocommunication Act and the Criminal Code. The move is a sign that enforcement authorities may finally be willing to take action in the fight against the black and grey satellite TV markets, which were ruled illegal under the Radiocommunication Act by the Supreme Court of Canada in April (CCR Update, April 26/02). The charges laid under Section 327 of the Criminal Code deal with the possession of a device to obtain a telecommunications facility or service.

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The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) anticipates that the government’s review of foreign investment restrictions in the telecommunications industry announced this week will help it on the Internet front. The Industry Canada news release mentions "infrastructure," notes CCTA president and CEO Janet Yale, pointing out that the review should thus "clearly impact the infrastructure of all groups," including cablecos.

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