CRTC sets January date for minority language hearing

The CRTC will hold a public hearing January 20 to decide whether Canada's television and radio sectors are doing enough to serve the interests of minority English- and French-speaking communities, and whether new digital distribution platforms can help. The regulator has until March 31 to report its findings to Canadian Heritage. In Notice of Public Hearing 2008-12, the CRTC invites industry stakeholders and the public to share their views on specific topics that touch on the quality and availability of broadcasting services in French and English language in minority situations, the challenges of providing these services and their availability on a variety of broadcasting platforms, and steps to encourage the range of such services. In June, Heritage Minister Josée Verner asked the CRTC to report on the accessibility and quality of broadcasting services to minority French and English-language communities by March 20, 2009. The order, made under Section 15 of the Broadcasting Act, forms part of the government's Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, which aims to strengthen the vitality of minority official language communities. The last time the CRTC reviewed the issue of linguistic diversity was in 2001, with a hearing into broadcasting services for minority French-language communities. Canada does not have a single set of rules governing the availability of broadcast services to minority language communities. In an interview with CCR in June, a CRTC official noted that some of the current rules "are very complex and depend on the type of distribution system that the licensee operates". "On the distribution side most of our rules are in our regulations, whereas on the broadcasting side, under a condition of licence we may require some licensees to produce or broadcast some programs from those communities; but that would vary from licence to licence," said Annie Laflamme, the CRTC's director of French-language TV policy and applications. "On the distribution side, although the rules vary, there are broad rules. For example, for every 10 Canadian services in English Canada that the BDU would carry, they have to carry one French language." The hearing will be a three-fold process that will examine the main questions asked by the government: 1. examine the availability and quality of English and French language broadcasting services in English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada; 2. identify any deficiencies and challenges in those communities in the provision of official language broadcasting services, and determining the availability of official language services across all broadcasting platforms and distribution systems; and 3. propose measures to encourage and facilitate access to the widest range of official language broadcasting services possible in English and French linguistic minority communities and to ensure that the diversity of English and French linguistic communities across Canada is reflected in the Canadian broadcasting system. The deadline for submitting comments is November 20.

CRTC sets January date for minority language hearing

News | 10/20/2008 7:49 pm EDT

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